ft 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE
 
 '' 
 
 - 
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 BY EDWIN _A. PRATT 
 
 AUTHOR OF " LICENSING AND TEMPERANCE IN SWEDEN, NORWAY 
 AND DENMARK," "THE TRANSITION IN AGRICULTURE," ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 1907
 
 HV 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 IN the course of an active journalistic career it has 
 2 fallen to my lot to investigate various social and 
 
 UJ 
 
 <" economic movements or developments of the day, and 
 a= I have found that separate studies thereon, offered in 
 o| compact form, and containing an abundance of actual 
 "* fact, rather than of merely personal opinion, have been 
 not unacceptable to the British public, especially when 
 such studies have dealt either with new subjects or with 
 old controversies on new lines. It is under the latter 
 ^ category the present volume falls. It represents, in 
 ^ effect, an attempt to deal with ' The Licensing Prob- 
 " lem ' from the point of view of the actual traders, as 
 ^seen, however, by an independent investigator, rather 
 than from the more or less academical, theoretical, or 
 idealistic standpoint of outside critics ; and in this 
 respect, therefore, it may claim to occupy an almost 
 <_gunique place in the literature on the subject apart, 
 ^that is, from pamphlets or occasional review articles. 
 <I do not necessarily commit the whole body of the said 
 traders to a full and complete endorsement of all that I 
 say ; but in its broad outlines, and setting aside possible 
 differences of opinion on matters of detail, my state- 
 ment, I would suggest, deserves to be taken into account
 
 vi PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 by those who are willing to look beyond the views 
 assertions, and prejudices of individuals or organiza- 
 tions avowedly hostile to the trade. 
 
 The present work, therefore, differs essentially from 
 the ordinary ' temperance ' literature, of which, I fancy, 
 most English people are beginning to grow somewhat 
 weary. In my humble judgment the very word ' tem- 
 perance ' is too often used in an entirely wrong sense. 
 Prohibitionists and other extremists are not really 
 entitled to consider ' temperance ' and ' total absti- 
 nence ' as they generally do synonymous terms. My 
 own view on this point was set forth in a footnote on 
 page 105 of my little book on ' Licensing and Temper- 
 ance in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark,' wherein I 
 said: 
 
 The real meaning of the word ' temperance' is ' moderation. 1 It 
 we say of a man that he is temperate in speaking, we do not imply 
 that he abstains from speech, but that he shows moderation therein. 
 Nor, when told that a person is temperate in eating, do we assume 
 that he has left off taking food. If the one be ' a moderate speaker,' 
 and the other 'a moderate eater,' then the 'temperance' advocate 
 in regard to beverages should be ' a moderate drinker.' In effect, 
 total abstainers may be teetotallers, but they cannot, properly speak- 
 ing, be described as ' temperance ' people. 
 
 So I assume there is a vast number of people in the 
 world who favour ' temperance,' in the true sense of the 
 word, without wanting either to enforce compulsory 
 abstinence on persons who use, but do not abuse, alco- 
 holic beverages, or to impose undue restrictions and 
 unreasonable interference, if not, also, unjust confisca- 
 tion, on the representatives of a trade which has been 
 ' licensed ' and therefore legalized by the State since
 
 PREFATORY NOTE vii 
 
 the early days of our national history. It is this class 
 of people to whom, I trust, what I have written will 
 specially appeal. 
 
 The chapter on ' Humanity and Stimulants ' has 
 already been published in The Monthly Review, that on 
 'The No- Licence Movement in New Zealand' in The 
 Times, and those on ' Managed Houses,' ' Clubs as Un- 
 licensed Public-Houses,' and ' Beer Past and Present,' 
 
 in The Daily Telegraph. 
 
 EDWIN A. PRATT. 
 
 FARNBOROUGH, KENT, 
 A6ril, 1907.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY - I 
 
 II. MATTERS OF HISTORY - 6 
 
 III. HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS - 2 S 
 
 IV. PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS - 39 
 
 V. THE TRUE MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS - 54 
 
 VI. TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS - 69 
 
 VII. LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST - '79 
 
 vin. 'TIED' HOUSES - 91 
 
 ix. 'MANAGED* HOUSES - 106 
 
 X. PROHIBITION ABROAD - - 129 
 
 XI. MODIFIED PROHIBITION AT HOME - 142 
 
 XII. THE NO-LICENCE MOVEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND - 154 
 
 XIII. DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT - - 170 
 
 XIV. CLUBS AS UNLICENSED PUBLIC-HOUSES - - 189 
 
 xv. 'TEMPERANCE' TEACHING IN SCHOOLS - - 201 
 
 XVI. TEMPERANCE DRINKS - - 209 
 
 XVII. BEER PAST AND PRESENT - 227 
 XVIII. LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY: REDUCTION, 
 
 COMPENSATION, AND TIME LIMIT - - 243 
 
 XIX. THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING - - 268 
 
 XX. CONCLUSIONS - - 286 
 
 APPENDICES : 
 
 A. TYPICAL FORM OF AGREEMENT WITH A 
 
 TENANT - - 305 
 
 B. TYPICAL FORM OF AGREEMENT WITH A 
 
 MANAGER - - - 308 
 
 C. FURTHER RULES FOR 'MANAGED* HOUSES 311 
 
 D. ALLIED TRADES AND INTERESTS- - 313 
 
 E. THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES - 320 
 
 F. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES : STATISTICS - 32! 
 
 G. THE TAXATION OF BREWERY COMPANIES 323 
 
 H. PROHIBITION IN THE UNITED STATES - 324 
 
 INDEX - - 326 
 ix
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 To the writing of books on the licensing question there 
 is no end. But the vast majority of those already pro- 
 duced deal only with various aspects of what may be 
 called ' the case for the prosecution,' and it is these 
 books, or the writings and speeches akin thereto, that 
 the larger proportion of the British public alone see or 
 hear. They become accustomed, therefore, more or 
 less, to the idea that the question is essentially a one- 
 sided one, incapable of any real defence. This at least 
 is certain : that if any impartial person of inquiring 
 mind wants to find out what can really be said on ' the 
 other side,' he has no little difficulty in consulting 
 adequate sources of information. 
 
 I was especially struck by this position of affairs 
 when, after having long been accustomed to accepting 
 teetotal assertions and contentions whether made 
 through the Press or on the platform I began to look 
 into the subject more thoroughly, with a view to seeing 
 whether there really was anything to be said for ' the 
 other side,' and what its own ' case ' represented. It is 
 .convenient, I know, in these busy times (' strenuous ' 
 is perhaps the more orthodox term to-day) to take 
 one's opinions as some people buy their clothes ready 
 
 i
 
 2 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 made. It saves a great amount of trouble just to adopt 
 the views of the man who writes the most, or talks the 
 loudest and most persistently, accepting from such 
 person his catalogue of facts and figures, contentions 
 and conclusions, without further ado. It is much easier 
 to do this than to worry out social problems for one- 
 self ; and the tendency is especially marked in the case 
 of persons in an influential position, who have many 
 demands made on their time and energies, and are 
 generally ready to put their names to apparently well- 
 meant schemes, when recommended to them by some 
 'authority' on the subject, without stopping to make 
 any adequate investigation on their own account, or to 
 ascertain the views or experiences of those whom the 
 action they support may prejudice. 
 
 I do not suggest that such persons are to be blamed 
 for their, perhaps, too ready acquiescence ; but it 
 occurred to me that I might render some public service 
 if, placing myself in their position, as it were, for the 
 time being, I made an independent inquiry, and ascer- 
 tained what was the sort of ' case ' that could be made 
 out for the various branches of a trade that has been 
 the subject of so much adverse comment, and also of 
 so many merciless attacks. The results of such an 
 inquiry, on strictly common-sense lines, might also, 
 I thought, be no less acceptable to the great body of 
 fair-minded English people who, themselves moderate 
 drinkers, constitute the bulk of the community, and 
 represent the jury by whom the final verdict in regard 
 to the licensing question in general will have to be 
 given. These, also, have probably heard far more of 
 the teetotal side of the case than they have of the other, 
 and they may, therefore, with their British sense of 
 justice and fair play, be the more ready to read what I 
 have here ventured to write.
 
 PREJUDICE AND FACT 3 
 
 On the inquiry thus made I started, I must confess, 
 with a good deal of prejudice, though, perhaps, with no 
 more than is entertained by many thousands of my 
 fellow-countrymen. Teetotal opinions I had passively 
 adopted and had acted on since the days of my youth 
 had led me to assume that the makers and dispensers 
 of alcoholic drinks were well, all that the teetotallers 
 said of them ! But when I began to question the 
 foundations of the faith that was in me, I found that 
 the real facts were very different indeed from what I 
 had supposed ; that the case for the teetotallers (as dis- 
 tinguished from the advocates of that moderation in 
 drinking which seems to constitute the real 'temper- 
 ance ') was based largely on exaggerations, miscon- 
 ceptions, and ideal conditions altogether incapable of 
 attainment, short of a complete revolution in some of the 
 fundamendal traits and instincts of human nature ; that, 
 whatever the faults and shortcomings of the traders 
 in alcoholic drinks, neither the trade nor the great 
 majority of the persons engaged therein really deserved 
 the bitter denunciations I had read or heard; and 
 that many of the attempted ' reforms ' of the licensing 
 system might do far more harm than good. I found, 
 also, that, so long as our human nature remains what 
 it is, prudent legislators would do well to recognize 
 as indispensable a trade which evidently responds 
 directly to a strongly pronounced human want, taking 
 such precautions as may be necessary to ensure effective 
 control, but not allowing themselves to be influenced 
 by idealists (aiming at an eventual total suppression 
 impossible of realization) into a policy of unduly 
 harassing, if not of showing injustice towards, the 
 representatives of a trade whose history goes back to 
 the very earliest days of our race. 
 
 I yield to no one in my desire to see people temperate 
 
 i 2
 
 4 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 and sober. But I hold that freedom and justice are 
 greater far than even temperance and sobriety. Our 
 forefathers were heavy drinkers, but they were sturdy 
 fighters for freedom. They bequeathed us, not only 
 bodies that are none the worse, physically, because 
 they themselves loved strong ale, but a freedom which 
 we shall either curtail or abuse if we say that, because 
 a small proportion of the community suffer from the 
 effects of an undue consumption of alcoholic drinks, 
 therefore the rest of the nation shall be compelled to 
 abstain therefrom. No less sturdily did our forefathers 
 fight for justice. They fought against the despotism of 
 Kings, and they struggled valiantly against the oppres- 
 sion of Governments; but they did not fight and 
 struggle in order that the powers of despotism and 
 oppression should pass into the hands of groups of 
 citizens known as 'the majority,' who, under the 
 shadow of so-called licensing reforms, were to make 
 use of their own liberty to inflict a great injustice on 
 their neighbours. Can it be that we have escaped the 
 tyranny of rulers only to become subject to the tyranny 
 of the ruled ? 
 
 The whole matter, therefore, must be looked at from 
 a broader point of view than is taken by the average 
 writer or speaker from the ordinary 'temperance' that 
 is, teetotal standpoint. Is total suppression prac- 
 ticable? Is not a body of traders, carrying on their 
 business under the express sanction of the law, and 
 contributing more largely than any other body to the 
 finances of the country, entitled to a greater degree of 
 consideration than teetotal extremists are willing to 
 extend to them ? Is further interference with the 
 licensing laws really called for ? Would renewed 
 attacks on the liberty of the subject be justifiable ? 
 
 Questions of this kind seem to me to remove the
 
 SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY 5 
 
 problem far beyond the academical standpoint from 
 which it is so often regarded. It is one for considera- 
 tion, not so much in the laboratory, in a debating 
 society, or at temperance meetings, as by those con- 
 cerned in practical politics, and accustomed to dealing 
 with the actual conditions of to-day, rather than with 
 conditions as one might like them to be. 
 
 It was on these lines that I began my inquiry, and in 
 what I have written I have thought more of dealing 
 with actual facts, and of presenting exact testimony, 
 than merely of recording my individual views. The sub- 
 ject covers so much ground that there has been some 
 difficulty in reducing a comprehensive survey of it to 
 the proportions of a single moderately sized volume ; 
 but the story thus brought together will, I trust, be 
 none the less acceptable and useful, not so much to the 
 professed teetotaller, whose mind I can hardly hope to 
 influence, but to the Average Person open to convic- 
 tion, though too busy to examine the question ex- 
 haustively for himself to whom, with the profoundest 
 respect, this book is hereby dedicated.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 THE story of intoxicating drinks goes back to pre- 
 historic times, the beginnings thereof being completely 
 lost in the mists of antiquity. There is no doubt, 
 however, that the first of such drinks was mead, which 
 was prepared by adding water to wild honey, and 
 allowing the mixture to stand for some days until 
 fermentation had taken place, and a beverage palatable 
 to the taste and intoxicating in its effects, when taken 
 in any large quantity, was produced. The alternative 
 to mead was cider, made from wild apples. Drinks of 
 these kinds were well suited to the habits of tribes 
 wandering from place to place, and having no fixed 
 habitation. The raw materials were easily obtained, 
 and the process of manufacture required little time and 
 little or no skill. 
 
 Other wild fruits were also used in prehistoric days 
 for the production of intoxicating beverages. Thus 
 M. G. de Mortillet says : 
 
 The palafits, or lake dwellings, of Clairvaux and of Switzerland 
 show that during the Neolithic epoch the inhabitants of Central 
 Europe possessed already a fermented drink prepared from 
 raspberries and from mulberries. The investigation of the 
 palafits of Bourget (Savoy) and of various stations round the 
 Alps proves that the use of this raspberry or mulberry wine con- 
 tinued during the Bronze Age. On the southern slopes of the 
 
 6
 
 THE EARLIEST INTOXICANTS 7 
 
 Alps the palafits intermediate between the prehistoric and the 
 protohistoric show the use of another fermented liquor dogberry 
 wine. 
 
 The next step was probably represented by a primi- 
 tive sort of beer; but this must have signified an 
 almost prodigious advance in civilization. It especially 
 implied settlement, for it meant the planting of corn, 
 the gradual cultivation of improved varieties thereof 
 from original wild stocks of indifferent quality and 
 giving only a scanty yield, the invention of the plough 
 the use of oxen, and so on. An equal degree of advance 
 was denoted by the planting of a vineyard and the 
 making of wine from the product thereof, as, we read, 
 was done by Noah. How many generations, if not 
 thousands of years, were represented by these two 
 stages alone in the history of the human race is more 
 than the wisest of men can surmise. 
 
 In Egypt the brewing of beer was one of the earliest 
 of the many arts that underwent development there, 
 and it was in Egypt, probably, that brewing was first 
 practised on any approach at all to scientific principles. 
 Frescoes on the walls of ancient temples have revealed 
 the whole story of the methods of production and 
 consumption, and thrown light on the influence of 
 beer-drinking on the social habits of the people. But 
 by the time brewing had attained to the proportions of 
 a skilled industry among them, the Egyptians must 
 already have been beer-drinkers for ages, beer having 
 first, it is believed, been introduced into the Nile Valley 
 by the primitive settlers. That it was made there 
 5,000 years ago is well established by ' The Book of 
 the Dead.' A thousand years later demands arose in 
 the land for a reduction in the number of places for the 
 sale of beer. Then there has been handed down to 
 modern times a letter written 3,000 years ago by an
 
 8 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 anxious Egyptian father to his student son in the city 
 of Pelusium (once situated in the north-east angle of 
 the Delta, and famous in history alike for its university 
 and its breweries), telling him of the pain with which 
 he had heard that he was wasting his valuable time in 
 the beer-houses, that he was getting into bad company, 
 and that he finished up each day's carouse by rolling 
 under the table. 
 
 It is further interesting to learn, in regard to the 
 antiquity of beer as a beverage, that in the excavations 
 at Phrygia, a country in Asia Minor with a history 
 going back to prehistoric ages, small funnel-shaped 
 vessels have been found which are believed to have 
 been used for removing from beer any grains or husks 
 still left in it ; while Xenophon tells in his ' Anabasis ' 
 of certain tribes who had unfiltered beer served up to 
 them, and imbibed it through straws so as to get the 
 liquor only in their mouths. 
 
 On the decline of the Egyptians and the rise of the 
 Greeks and Romans, there was a corresponding decline 
 of beer in favour of the true wine of the grape, the vine 
 being represented in the Hellenic myth as the gift of 
 Zeus to Dionysus ; but beer once more came to the 
 front with the advent of the German ' barbarians ' 
 ' sons of malt,' as Julian called them, on account of 
 their devotion to malt beverages. Just as the Egyptians 
 had attributed the origin of beer to Osiris, so had 
 Northern mythology related that ^Egir was not only the 
 ocean deity, but the one whose duty it was to brew 
 enough ale for consumption by the other gods at their 
 feasts ; so that when, on one occasion, his cauldron was 
 not sufficiently capacious to satisfy the requirements of 
 all the gods of Asgard, who were to assemble at a 
 banquet, Thor came to his assistance by securing 
 (after many adventures) a still larger cauldron from the
 
 UNIVERSALITY OF STIMULANTS 9 
 
 giant Hymir. It was further believed that, when the 
 horsemen who died as heroes on the battle-field found 
 their way to Valhalla, one of the greatest joys of the 
 new life thus opened out to them would be an abundant 
 supply of good liquor. With beliefs such as these, or 
 with habits of daily life based on a generous consump- 
 tion of mead or ale, it is no wonder that Scandinavian 
 rovers and German 'barbarians' spread their own habits 
 throughout the lands they conquered or in which they 
 settled. 
 
 To illustrate still further the universality of stimulants, 
 mention may be made of the fact that in Brazil guarana, 
 which has an action like that of tea and coffee, is 
 prepared from the nuts of a tree belonging to the same 
 natural order as the horse-chestnut. In Peru the 
 natives chew a preparation made from the leaves of the 
 coca plant. Taken in small quantities, it enables them 
 to make long-continued exertions without inconvenience, 
 though when used to excess it causes dyspepsia, and 
 sometimes also nervous depression and hallucinations. 
 In Mexico a favourite drink, known as pulque, is prepared 
 from the fermented juice of different species of agave. 
 In many of the South Sea Islands a fermented liquor 
 is made from the upper portion of the root and the base 
 of the stem of a shrubby plant known as ' ava ' or 
 ' kava.' Along the tropical parts of the Western coast 
 of Africa cola-nut is used as a stimulant, while in Africa 
 generally the making of beer is so extensively practised 
 by the various races and tribes that Africa has been 
 described by one German writer as ' a beer-drinking 
 continent.' In Japan there is a large consumption of 
 sake, a beer made from rice, and generally drunk warm, 
 in small vessels. Sake and tobacco are alike given out 
 in regular rations to the troops in the Japanese Army, 
 and, according to the official report of the Japanese
 
 io MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 medical officers concerning the health of the army in 
 the war with China in 1894-95, these daily rations of 
 sake had a beneficial effect on the troops. They stimu- 
 lated the spirits of the men, being especially serviceable 
 in this respect in times of difficulty, and they were 
 most useful in helping to protect them against the 
 stomach ailments so prevalent in China. Nor does 
 the history of the more recent war with Russia suggest 
 that the Japanese troops were otherwise than bene- 
 fited by their moderate, but nevertheless habitual, in- 
 dulgence (so far as conditions permitted) in the national 
 beverage. 
 
 Nations in the East which have refrained from 
 alcoholic drinks have, nevertheless, indulged in opium 
 or other drugs, representing stimulants in another 
 form, and appealing, to a certain extent, to the same 
 natural instincts. Altogether, therefore, one must seek 
 not alone in the history of our social habits, but in 
 human nature itself, for the causes of this universal 
 indulgence in stimulants or narcotics in one form or 
 another from the very earliest days of our civilization ; 
 and it would, indeed, appear that this human nature of 
 ours will have to be entirely changed before there can 
 be any hope of the natural instinct in question being 
 entirely eradicated, even assuming that there is any 
 adequate reason why it should be. 
 
 The original ' ale,' both in Britain and in Continental 
 countries, was made from malt and water, without 
 hops, though ground-ivy was used as a preservative, and 
 to make the drink more palatable. It was also known 
 to the Anglo-Saxons as ' beer,' but that name almost 
 dropped out of use until it was revived to distinguish ' ale ' 
 from ' hopped ale,' hops being added to the latter for the 
 purpose alike of imparting an agreeable bitter flavour 
 to the liquor and of improving its keeping qualities.
 
 'ALE' AND 'HOPPED ALE' n 
 
 There is evidence of this practice having been 
 followed in South Germany in 1079, and in the Nether- 
 lands in the fourteenth century ; but it does not seem 
 to have been introduced into England until about the 
 fifteenth century, when it was brought to Kent by some 
 Flemish immigrants. At first the innovation was 
 strongly disapproved. Hops v/ere regarded as an 
 adulterant, and Henry IV. in 1400, Henry VI. in 1450, 
 and Henry VIII. in 1530, are all said to have taken 
 steps to check their use. According to writers of this 
 period, hops might have the property of ' preserving 
 liquors from corruption,' but they also ' dried up the 
 body and increased melancholy.' The Common 
 Council of the City of London even petitioned Parlia- 
 ment to prohibit the employment of hops in brewing, 
 ' in regard that they would spoyl the taste of drinks 
 and endanger the people.' It is further reported that 
 a retailer of ale not only took proceedings against a 
 brewer for ' spoiling ' his ale by putting into it ' a 
 certain weed called a hopp,' but even recovered damages 
 on that account. 
 
 These prejudices on the part of our forefathers are the 
 more noticeable because a law passed in Bavaria in the 
 year 1516 had laid down that ' in the making of beer 
 nothing shall be used but barley, hops, and water,' thus 
 legally establishing hops as a constituent of beer. But 
 their use, even in England, came to be recognized in 
 course of time. Beer brewed with hops began to take 
 the place of ale brewed without them from about the 
 time of Henry VI., though the beer-brewers kept them- 
 selves distinct for many years from the ale-brewers, 
 who at first alone constituted the Brewers Company of 
 London. Later on the words ' ale ' and ' beer ' were 
 either used indiscriminately, or had different meanings 
 in different localities. To-day, speaking generally,
 
 12 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 ' beer ' embraces all malt liquors, while ' ale ' does not 
 apply to either porter or stout. 
 
 The veneration of our ancestors for good malt liquor 
 is beyond all possible doubt. One must bear in mind 
 that the use of tea and coffee as breakfast drinks is of 
 comparatively recent date in the history of this country. 
 It was not until about 1657 that tea began to be used 
 as a beverage, and the price in those days ranged from 
 5 to 10 per pound, the former figure being for the 
 cheaper qualities ! Even in 1740 tea cost from 73. to 
 243. per pound. Coffee, again, did not come into use 
 as an ordinary beverage in Great Britain before the 
 eighteenth century. Until, therefore, tea and coffee 
 had well established their position and even for years 
 afterwards with people who adhered to the habits and 
 customs of the ' good old days ' ale represented the 
 liquid part of the meal at breakfast, as well as at dinner 
 and supper. ' A quart of ale is a dish for a King,' and 
 it was regarded, also, as constituting a good enough dish 
 for the King's subjects. In fact, a quart of ale at break- 
 fast was the recognized allowance for each man or 
 woman. 
 
 When Queen Elizabeth was on one of her royal pro- 
 gresses through the land, the Earl of Leicester wrote to 
 Lord Burleigh : ' There is not one drop of good drink 
 for her. We were fain to send to London and Kenil- 
 worth and divers other places where ale was ; her own 
 bere was so strong as there was no man able to drink 
 it.' Mary, Queen of Scots, found relief at Fotheringay 
 for some of her troubles in a generous consumption 
 of brown beer from Burton-on-Trent. Hugh Latimer 
 drank a goblet of spiced ale with his supper the night 
 before he was burned at the stake, and Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, on the morning of his execution, indulged in 
 a pipe of tobacco and a tankard of ale. ' See,' wrote
 
 THE NATIONAL BEVERAGE 13 
 
 Richard Atkinson to Leonard, Lord Dacre, in 1570, 
 ' that ye keep a noble house for beef and beer, that 
 thereof may be praise given to God and to your honour ' ; 
 and the real part that beef and beer have played in 
 making us what we are as a nation is a phase of our 
 history that would be well worth the telling. It was 
 these commodities that helped to strengthen the arm 
 of our forefathers in their gallant fights at home and 
 abroad, and, granting that they still had the beef, it is 
 doubtful if they would have had quite the same degree 
 of vigour, and would have accomplished quite the same 
 results to the well-being of the nation if they had 
 had nothing stronger to wash down that beef than any 
 possible equivalent, in those days, for ginger-ale and 
 lemonade. 
 
 In the Middle Ages brewing was one of the ordinary 
 duties of the housewife, and, outside the monasteries, 
 was left almost exclusively to the women-folk. Alreck, 
 King of Hordoland, is said to have chosen Geirland for 
 his Queen by reason of her proficiency in brewing. 
 
 A brew-house was considered an indispensable adjunct 
 to the premises of every well-to-do family, and in Ger- 
 many, in the Middle Ages, brew-houses were established 
 in most of the towns and villages for the common use 
 of all the inhabitants. Both there and in England the 
 wives and daughters of the household superintended 
 the brewing even when they did not do the actual work, 
 and the wages paid to domestic servants were fixed 
 according as to whether the women engaged could 
 both brew and make malt, or brew only. Domestic 
 brewing, in fact, was still common late in the eighteenth 
 century. Writing in 1821, William Cobbett said : 
 
 Forty years ago ... to have a house and not to brew was a rare 
 thing indeed. Mr. Ellerman, an old man and a large farmer in 
 Sussex, has recently given, in evidence before a Committee of the
 
 14 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 House of Commons, this fact : that forty years ago there was not 
 a labourer in his parish that did not brew his own beer, and that 
 now there is not one that does it, except by chance the malt be 
 given him. 
 
 Women, again, were at one time the general maltsters, 
 and our literature and historical records are full of 
 references to the ale-wives of old, who both made and 
 sold the ale that was so generally consumed. A survival 
 of this fact is to be found in the word ' brewster,' which 
 is still in vogue to-day in the phrase ' Brewster (or 
 Licensing) Sessions.' These ale-wives had their faults 
 and shortcomings, and severe measures were taken 
 from time to time to ensure that they acquitted them- 
 selves well of their responsibilities, and did not commit 
 the unpardonable crime of making bad ale. 
 
 In Saxon times it was a regulation of the City of 
 London that the ale-wife who brewed bad liquor should 
 have the same punishment as a ' scold,' by being placed 
 on a cucking-stool and dipped in a pool of water. There 
 were also fraudulent ale-wives, who either adulterated 
 their ales with deleterious compounds or else gave 
 short measure. For offenders of this type the cucking- 
 stool was regarded as much too mild a punishment. 
 A miracle play performed at Chester in the fourteenth 
 century described how Christ descended into hell and 
 saved the souls of those who dwelt in purgatory. But 
 there was one hardened offender, a woman, whose 
 crimes were past all forgiveness. In confessing her 
 sins she said : 
 
 Some time I was a tavernere, 
 A gentel gossepp, and a tapstere, 
 Of wine and ale a trusty brewer, 
 Which woe hath me bewrought. 
 Of Cannes I kept no true measure, 
 My cuppes I solde at my pleasure, 
 Deceavinge many a creature, 
 Tho' my ale were nought.
 
 BREWSTERS: BREWERS: BREWING 15 
 
 The good people of Chester would not tolerate the 
 idea of pardon being extended to an ale-wife who could 
 do such things as these, and the miracle play closed 
 with the appearance of fiends who carried her off to 
 the regions below to receive what was considered a just 
 and well-merited punishment. 
 
 It is, in fact, interesting to find that in those early 
 days licensing laws and regulations were directed, to a 
 large extent, to making sure that the public got good 
 liquor, in just measures, and at a reasonable price. Ale 
 was regarded as an indispensable and most important 
 item in the national dietary, and the sale of it was 
 watched over with a jealous regard for the interests of 
 the consumers, from the point of view either of their 
 health or of their pocket. As early as 1155 the Common 
 Council of Augsburg passed an ordinance imposing 
 certain punishments on brewers who offered ' bad beer ' 
 for sale, and ordering that such beer should be seized 
 and given to the poor ! Considering, however, how 
 little the real science of brewing was understood in 
 those days, the occurrence of unsatisfactory brews can 
 hardly be wondered at. In some instances rule-of- 
 thumb methods were supplemented by the grossest 
 superstition, as, for instance, in that German recipe of 
 old which declared that, in order to secure alike a good 
 brew and a good sale for the liquor, one should put in 
 the vat the thumb of a man who had been hanged, and 
 a piece of the rope which had hanged him. 
 
 In England, in the time of Henry III., ' the Assize of 
 Bread and Ale,' which fixed the prices for those com- 
 modities, became a well-recognized institution, fines, or 
 even corporal punishment, being inflicted on the brew- 
 sters who failed to observe the laws thus made. Juries 
 of six lawful men were appointed in the several town- 
 ships to see that the rulings of the Assize of Bread and
 
 16 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 Ale were kept, and to collect the pots and measures 
 used in the ale-houses, test them, and see that they bore 
 the official stamp. Then, also, ale-conners were ap- 
 pointed annually in the Court leet of each manor, and 
 in boroughs and corporate towns, to try the ales that 
 were brewed, and see that they were of the requisite 
 strength and quality. 
 
 In the old Scottish laws it was enacted 
 
 All women quha brewes aill to be sould, sail brew conforme to 
 the use and consuetude of the burgh all the year. And ilk Browster 
 sail put forth ane signe of her aill , without her house, be the window 
 or be the dure, that it may be sene as common to all men ; quhilk 
 gif she does not, she sail pay ane unlaw (fine) of foure pennies. 
 
 It is statute that na woman sel the gallon of aill fra Pasch until 
 Michaelmas, dearer nor twa pennies; and fra Michaelmas until 
 Pasch, dearer nor ane pennie. 
 
 In the ' Borrow Lawes ' (Burgh Laws) it was further 
 laid down, in reference to the duties and obligations of 
 a ' browster '- 
 
 Gif she makes gude ail, that is sufficient. Bot gif she makes 
 euel ail, contrair to the use and consuetude of the burgh, and is 
 convict thereof, she sail pay ane unlaw (fine) of aucht shillings, or 
 sal suffer the justice of the burgh, that is, she sail be put upon one 
 Cock-stule. 
 
 The old records of the City of London contain many 
 allusions to disputes between the brewers and the 
 authorities respecting the quality of the liquor they 
 brewed and the prices they charged. But so much 
 importance was attached to the keeping up of an ade- 
 quate supply of good ale that special precautions were 
 taken to guard against public inconvenience arising 
 from a sudden reduction in the available quantity, either 
 because the brewer did not want, or because he could 
 not afford, to continue his business on the lines laid 
 down. Thus, in the twenty-fourth year of Henry VIII. 
 the Court of Common Council made order that 'in
 
 COMPULSORY BREWING 17 
 
 case the Maire and Aldermen of the same Citie shall 
 hereafter knowe and perceyve or understonde that any 
 of the saide Brewers, of their frowarde and perverse 
 myndes, shall at any time hereafter sodenly forbere and 
 absteyne from bruynge, whereby the King's subjects 
 shoulde bee destitute or onprovided of Drynke,' the 
 brew-houses of such ' wilfull and obstynate ' brewers 
 shall be taken possession of by the City, which shall 
 allow others to brew there, and provide them with 
 materials in case of need. 
 
 Then it is set forth in the ' Liber Albus ' that ' if any 
 shall refuse to brew, or shall brew a less quantity than 
 he or she used to brew, in consequence of this ordinance ' 
 (fixing a specified price and quality), 'he or she shall be 
 held to be a withdrawer of victual from the City, and 
 shall be punished by imprisonment, and shall forswear 
 his trade as a brewer within the liberties of the City for 
 ever.' The suggestion that any brewer discontinuing, 
 or reducing the quantity of, his supplies of ale was to 
 be regarded as ' a withdrawer of victual from the City ' 
 is especially significant of the light in which malt liquor 
 was regarded by our forefathers. A still earlier enact- 
 ment, ordering the brewers to sell only by such vessels 
 as bore the official seal, quaintly set forth that the giving 
 of short measure, when ale was sold, was ' to the dis- 
 pleasure of God, and contrary to the profit of the City.' 
 
 The Brewers Company whose official title is that of 
 ' The Master and Keepers or Warden and Commonalty 
 of the Mystery or Art of Brewers of the City of London ' 
 received their first authentic charter on February 22, 
 1445, in the reign of Henry VI. ; but there is evidence 
 that the brewers represented an important and wealthy 
 craft-guild for many years before that time, and had 
 attained to a position of considerable dignity as com- 
 pared with that of the ale-wives of earlier days. They 
 
 2
 
 18 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 had their own hall as early as 1422, and they had 
 already established trade regulations which embraced, 
 so far as was possible, every branch of their ' mystery 
 or art.' There were some things, however, they could 
 not regulate, and they more especially had to encounter 
 many difficulties in maintaining the freedom and interests 
 of the trade. Henry VI., for instance, prohibited them 
 from using hops, which were just beginning to be widely 
 utilized by English brewers, and Henry VIII. (a great 
 lover of spiced ale) not only repeated this prohibition, 
 but entered with much zeal on the policy of prescribing 
 alike the quality and the price of ale. In so doing he 
 paid no regard to such matters of detail as the high 
 price of barley, and the depreciation he had himself 
 brought about in the value of coin. Ale, from his point 
 of view, was a necessary of life which must be supplied 
 at a fixed price, whether such price paid the brewers or 
 not, and protests against this policy were mostly raised 
 in vain. In 1591, when Elizabeth was ruler, the 
 Brewers Company sent in a remonstrance against their 
 being compelled to sell at a price fixed sixty years 
 previously, although every material employed in brewing 
 had greatly increased in price. The Company even 
 took it upon themselves to advance the price ; but 
 Elizabeth would not tolerate such a procedure on their 
 part, and they were obliged to withdraw the advance, 
 and be content with the prospect of doing increased 
 business, both at home and abroad. 
 
 -Further evidence of the importance attached to good 
 wholesome ale in these bygone days is afforded by 
 various entries in the ' Munimenta Academica ' of the 
 University of Oxford. It is there recorded that, in 
 the year 1434, ' seeing how great evils arise both to the 
 clerks and to the townsmen of the City of Oxford owing 
 to the negligence and dishonesty of the brewers of ale,'
 
 PRICE AND QUALITY 19 
 
 the Commissary brought the brewers together in the 
 Church of the Blessed Mary the Virgin, and made each 
 of them swear on the Blessed Evangelists that he would 
 brew ale that was good and wholesome, ' so far as his 
 ability and human frailty permits.' Lest there should 
 be any doubt as to what constituted good and whole- 
 some ale, the University authorities themselves laid down 
 minute directions concerning the way in which the 
 brewing should be conducted. But they found difficulty 
 in enforcing their requirements, as shown by the fact 
 that in 1449 the stewards and manciples of Canterbury 
 College complained against nine of the brewers that 
 they had brewed ' an ale of little or no strength, to the 
 grave and no mean damage of the University and 
 Town.' Then, in 1464, John Janyn was ordered by 
 the Commissary to refund the sum of 8d. to Anisia 
 Barbour, to whom he had sold a cask of ale for 2od. ; 
 whereas, ' in our opinion,' the judgment said, ' and that 
 of others who have just tasted it, it is not worth more 
 than I2d.' At Cambridge, also, in the latter half of the 
 eighteenth century, it was the practice of the munici- 
 pality to appoint during the annual fair an official 
 known as ' the lord of the tap,' who was required to 
 visit all the booths and test the ale sold there, with 
 a view to seeing that it was of sufficiently good quality 
 for the persons visiting the fair. 
 
 The important part played by ale and beer in the 
 social and domestic economy of the nation, and as 
 sources of nourishment for the bodies of the English 
 people, has, in fact, been well recognized throughout the 
 ages ; and when the rule-of-thumb methods of the old 
 ale-wives were more and more succeeded by scientific 
 processes, improved appliances, and ampler resources 
 on the part of the masculine brewers who followed them, 
 English ales and beers gained for themselves a great 
 
 2 2
 
 20 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 reputation throughout the world. They were, in fact, 
 already famous in other lands so far back as the twelfth 
 century. The introduction of French wines did but 
 little to check their supremacy, wine being regarded as 
 a luxury for the rich only ; but the rivalry of spirits was 
 much more pronounced, and, although the ales and 
 beers in these bygone days were certainly potent 
 enough, it was spirits that became mainly responsible 
 for the evils of ' alcoholism.' 
 
 The process of distilling spirits is supposed to have 
 been originally invented by the Arabs about the 
 thirteenth century. By the end of the fifteenth century 
 brandy had become an important article of manu- 
 facture in the wine countries, while, with the improve- 
 ments in such manufacture brought about in the 
 sixteenth century, the cost of production was sub- 
 stantially reduced, and the drinking of spirits spread 
 rapidly throughout Europe. According to Camden, 
 the English troops serving in the Low Countries did 
 much towards introducing the practice into England ; 
 but, whether this be the case or not, the increasing 
 consumption of spirits in place of the comparatively 
 harmless malt beverages hitherto mainly in vogue led 
 to some marked changes in the social and economic 
 conditions of the times. 
 
 In 1673, for example, there was presented to Parlia- 
 ment a petition which prayed 'that brandy, coffee, 
 mum [a strong ale brewed chiefly from wheat malt, 
 with the addition of various aromatic herbs], tea, and 
 chocolate may be prohibited,' on the ground that these 
 beverages greatly hindered the consumption of barley, 
 malt, and wheat, products of the land ; and the petition 
 went on to say : 
 
 Before brandy (which is now become common, and sold in 
 every little ale-house) came over into England in such quantities
 
 BEER F. SPIRITS 21. 
 
 as it now doth, we drank good strong beer and ale, and all 
 laborious people (which are far the greatest part of the kingdom), 
 their bodies requiring, after hard labour, some strong drink to 
 refresh them, did therefore every morning and evening use to 
 drink a pot of ale or a flagon of strong beer, which greatly pro- 
 moted the consumption of our own grain, and did them no great 
 prejudice ; it hindered not their work, neither did it take away 
 their senses, nor cost them much money, whereas (the petition 
 continued) the prohibition of brandy would . . . prevent the de- 
 struction of His Majesty's subjects, many of whom have been 
 killed by drinking thereof, it not agreeing with their constitutions. 
 
 Then, in Hogarth's two pictures of ' Beer Street ' and 
 ' Gin Lane ' the views of one of the shrewdest observers 
 and most skilful satirists of the day as to the difference 
 between malt liquors and ardent spirits were brought 
 out in striking fashion. In ' Beer Street ' there is a 
 general appearance of prosperity and contentment, the 
 only exception being the impoverished pawnbroker, 
 who has barricaded himself in his dilapidated premises 
 against a visit from the broker, and is receiving through 
 a hole in the door a pot of the beverage to which 
 the decline in his business is due. In ' Gin Lane,' on 
 the other hand, poverty, wretchedness, and vice are 
 triumphant, and there the pawnbroker alone is pros- 
 perous. The moral of the story thus so graphically 
 told by the artist was that, while an undue indulgence 
 in spirits produced much harm, beer was essentially 
 a temperance drink, and one that as a wholesome and 
 perfectly legitimate beverage was well deserving of 
 encouragement. 
 
 Whatever the precise influence alcoholic liquors, 
 especially in the form of ale and beer, may have had 
 in the development of that stamina, energy, and enter- 
 prise which have distinguished us as a nation, and in 
 helping us to achieve our triumphs in the past, no one 
 can deny the importance of the role they have played 
 alike in our social and our literary life. Beverages
 
 22 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 which the teetotallers despise even in their milder 
 forms were the very foundation of the merrymakings, 
 feasts, festivals, and functions in hall, in cottage, or on 
 village green, which have been characteristic of our 
 country from its earliest days, and did so much to win 
 for it the name of ' Merrie England.' Let the reader 
 try to imagine what the course of our social history 
 would have been if prohibitionists or local optionists 
 had got the controlling voice in those bygone centuries, 
 had abolished the * good old ' English ale, and con- 
 demned the holders of feasts and festivals to drink 
 nothing stronger than some possible representative in 
 those days of ginger-beer or lemonade. Had that been 
 done, Medieval England might have been more sober, 
 but it would have been a dull country, and it is probable 
 that that dullness would have descended, more or less, 
 to the present generation, and left upon us a mark 
 which would not have been to our advantage as a 
 nation. Even as it is, the steady disappearance of 
 festivals and merrymakings is one cause, at least, why 
 village life is becoming more and more unattractive to 
 village people, and why rural parishes are being more 
 and more deserted for the attractions of the towns. 
 
 When we think, also, of the part that taverns have 
 played in the literary life of the nation, as the meeting- 
 place of the poets and wits of Shakespeare's, of 
 Addison's, and of Johnson's days, and of all the sayings 
 and the writings that the ' flowing bowl ' inspired at 
 such gatherings, one cannot but think that English life 
 and English literature would have been all the poorer 
 if these and other of our great writers had lived in pro- 
 hibition or no-licence days, and had had to work up 
 their divine afflatus as best they could on strictly 
 temperance drinks. As Dr. Robert Farquharson well 
 said in an article contributed by him to Black-wood's
 
 TAVERNS IN THE PAST 23 
 
 Magazine for June, 1892, presenting 'The Case for 
 Moderate Drinking,' it would be difficult to recognize 
 some of our literary heroes apart from their convivial 
 pleasures. 
 
 We may be certain that Coleridge and Lamb did not toil up 
 Hampstead Hill to drink water at the Salutation and Cat, and the 
 merry coffee-housing of the club was mellowed by potations which 
 stimulated the talk of Burke and Goldsmith and the appreciation 
 of Reynolds. 
 
 We see Dickens and Forster and Stanfield and Maclise at their 
 early dinners before the play, or at their suppers after the curtain 
 fell, and we know that there was just enough liquor among them 
 to warm, but not heat, and to set their tongues going with free but 
 decorous elasticity. Sir Walter Scott's cheery little banquets, where 
 the strictest moderation was recorded in his 'Journal,' were full of 
 mirth and good-fellowship ; and is it likely that soda-water would 
 have been equally successful in bringing out the best points of the 
 guests and infusing them with a harmonious whole ? 
 
 Taverns, again, were the recognized meeting-places 
 of politicians in the days before the political club, in a 
 more or less palatial building, became an institution in 
 the land. They were the centre from which news and 
 opinions alike radiated when newspapers were much 
 rarer than they are to-day ; and in pre-railway times 
 they were the meeting-place of travellers, business men, 
 and representatives of all types of society. Even the 
 coffee-houses, which formed so important a feature in 
 the social life of the country in the days of William III. 
 and Anne, were little more than taverns under another 
 name. Thus, in his ' Tour through the Whole Island 
 of Great Britain, 1724-27,' De Foe says of his visit to 
 Shrewsbury that he found there ' the most coffee-houses 
 round the Town House that ever I saw in any town, 
 but when you come into them they are but ale-houses, 
 only they think that the name of coffee-house gives a 
 better air.' 
 
 Various causes have contributed to bring about the 
 steady decline in reputation which the average tavern
 
 24 MATTERS OF HISTORY 
 
 has undergone, but one of them is undoubtedly to be 
 found in the ceaseless attempts of the teetotal party to 
 discredit the character of places where alcoholic liquors 
 are openly sold. Whether these attempts are sympa- 
 thized with or not, every one must recognize that when 
 the ' temperance ' enthusiasts speak of those connected 
 with the business as ' accomplices of Satan,' and 
 declare that ' the drink traffic threatens to throttle the 
 very life of the nation,' they overlook the teachings of 
 history, and ignore the fact that, in spite of all the 
 heavy drinking in which our forefathers indulged, and 
 in spite of all the evils to which excessive indulgence 
 has led, the life of the British nation is still very far 
 indeed from having experienced the fate thus fore- 
 shadowed.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 THE fact which I sought to demonstrate in the previous 
 chapter, that in all times, in all stages of our civiliza- 
 tion, and in all parts of the universe, the various peoples 
 constituting the human race have often quite inde- 
 pendently of one another resorted to the preparation 
 and consumption of stimulants (among which alcoholic 
 beverages have taken the first place), would suggest 
 that there is a legitimate demand and use for those 
 stimulants, in spite of all that teetotal extremists may 
 now say to the contrary. Much discussion has taken 
 place of late as to the ' food value ' of alcoholic bever- 
 ages, and considerable diversity of opinion still prevails 
 thereon. Rightly or wrongly, successive generations 
 have regarded beer as ' liquor bread,' basing their 
 opinion on their own experience. But, literally, for 
 thousands of years before the present controversy on 
 ' food value ' arose stimulants had been taken as they 
 still generally are for other reasons than because of 
 the amount of actual nutriment they might or might 
 not contain. They were accepted as a palatable drink ; 
 they gave a feeling of warmth and helped to ward off 
 chills ; they modified the pangs of hunger ; they pro- 
 duced a sense of enjoyment, gratification, and com- 
 fort ; they gave greater zest to social intercourse ; they 
 
 25
 
 26 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 lessened pain, relaxed nerves wearied by physical or 
 mental labour, relieved the pressure of daily cares, 
 deadened care, trouble, and anxiety, improved the out- 
 look on life, imparted fresh vigour to the healthy man, 
 and enabled him to surmount difficulties and perform 
 deeds or actions which otherwise he would have re- 
 garded as beyond his powers. In one or other of these 
 ways they appealed to wants or instincts of our com- 
 mon humanity, and rendered services throughout the 
 ages which, until quite recent times, were considered 
 sufficient in themselves, without regard to any question 
 as to food value. Assuming, for the sake of argument, 
 it could be proved beyond the shadow of a doubt (though 
 this has not yet been done) that stimulants contain no 
 nutritive value whatever, these old and original reasons 
 for taking them reasons coexistent with the race itself 
 would still remain. 
 
 Here we reach the fundamental factor of the whole 
 situation, although it is one which the extreme sections 
 of the temperance party have either ignored, obscured 
 by side-issues, or thought to overcome by Acts of Parlia- 
 ment or oppressive enforcements of the licensing laws. 
 Deep down in the heart of man we have got to recog- 
 nize whether we want to or not the existence, as 
 part of his nature and temperament, of a craving from 
 time to time for some artificial stimulant capable of 
 producing mental or physical effects that would not 
 exist, or could not be secured, naturally. One might 
 as well pass an Act of Parliament for the abolition of 
 thirst as try to eradicate the feeling in question by 
 legislative action. It may vary in form and intensity 
 in different individuals, according to temperament, cir- 
 cumstances, and conditions ; but every adult person is 
 influenced by it, and yields to it some time or another. 
 One cannot assume that, because a man does not take
 
 A NATURAL CRAVING 27 
 
 alcoholic drinks, therefore he does not take any stimu- 
 lants at all. Opium, cocaine, quinine, and various 
 other drugs, are extreme alternatives, but they are in- 
 dulged in very largely, and, to a certain extent, answer 
 the same purpose as alcohol. Tea, coffee, and tobacco 
 also act as stimulants, and so do some of the special 
 brands of patent medicines, or even pickles, catsup, and 
 other table condiments ; so that while temperance 
 advocates scrupulously avoid beer or wine, they may 
 still partake freely of stimulants, and even of alcohol 
 itself, in some other than the recognized form. 
 
 Dr. Ashbel P. Grinnell, vice-president of the New 
 York Medico-Legal Society, who has recently published 
 a pamphlet on ' Drug Consumption and Alcohol as 
 found in Proprietary Medicine,' is a firm believer in the 
 theory that ' every human being craves some artificial 
 stimulant,' and he gives the following interesting 
 examples : 
 
 One of the most noted post-prandial speakers this world has 
 ever produced never took anything with dinner but a glass of cham- 
 pagne. Without it he felt lost. With it he could recall anything 
 he had ever heard in his life, and we waited for the morning 
 paper to see what he had said the night before. Another man 
 whose utterances have a world-wide reputation, who has made 
 speeches in France, England, and Germany, which electrified his 
 hearers and reflected credit upon us as a people, told me that his 
 speeches were always prepared or delivered under the influence of 
 black tea, and he ate nothing for some time before he was going to 
 speak. Another man who was largely responsible for the Pro- 
 hibitory Law, as it is called in Vermont, came to me for treatment. 
 I told him under no circumstances to take acids. He said, ' Do 
 you mean to tell me that I can't eat pickles ?' I told him, ' Cer- 
 tainly': that he had a disease of the kidneys and bladder which 
 made the use of acids impossible. He said, ' I have pickles three 
 times a day, made out of everything it is possible to make pickles 
 from. I can't get along without pickles.' And yet this man went 
 to the State Legislature and said, ' I can't drink beer, therefore you 
 shan't.' This man died from pickles. . . . 
 
 Let me tell you a little incident in regard to one of the most 
 notable temperance lectures that ever appeared in this country. 
 He was a temperance man, and did a great deal of good. His
 
 28 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 wife once said to me, ' Isn't it possible to stop my husband drink- 
 ing so much coffee ? The coffee-pot is limited to four cups : he 
 takes three of them with every meal.' And yet this man would not 
 be guilty of taking an alcoholic stimulant. 
 
 Another man, a public temperance speaker, told me that it was 
 impossible for him to lecture unless he was under the influence of 
 compound tincture of gentian. 
 
 By what right a temperance speaker who either kills 
 himself by over-indulgence in one kind of stimulant, or 
 is hopelessly addicted to others, should want to pass 
 laws to prevent his neighbours from taking stimulants 
 in the form they happen to prefer is by no means clear. 
 He might argue that his own stimulants only prejudice 
 himself, whereas alcohol may lead a man to become a 
 source of danger to others. But this is not necessarily 
 the case, as the vast majority of people taking alcoholic 
 beverages never do become a source of danger to others. 
 If a man who drinks in moderation is to be restrained 
 simply because he may, possibly, do injury to himself, 
 it would be quite as logical to place an equal degree of 
 restraint on the injudicious consumer of pickles or 
 coffee, for a like reason. In any case, the fact remains 
 that the desire for a stimulant may be quite as active in 
 a teetotaller, even though he be an ' abstainer,' as in the 
 average moderate drinker, at least. 
 
 This universal instinct or desire must, therefore, I 
 would submit, be duly recognized, and it is precisely 
 because the prohibitionists (while themselves affording 
 personal evidence of its force and power) have refused 
 to make due allowance for it, and have aimed at 
 abolishing it altogether, that they have made so little 
 real progress in their propaganda. They have thus 
 become leaders of a hope which is at once forlorn and 
 impracticable. The real question to be asked is not, 
 " In what way can the desire for stimulants, which is 
 known to have been implanted in man for five thousand
 
 ABOLITION OR CONTROL ? 29 
 
 years, or more, be eradicated ?' but, ' In what way can a 
 natural instinct be responded to so that the least 
 possible harm will result to the individual or to society ?' 
 Such response is obviously not accorded either by water 
 or by the liquids forming the ordinary (so-called) 
 ' temperance drinks.' These (as I shall show later) 
 may satisfy thirst, but they do not fulfil the other 
 requirements to which an actual stimulant would 
 directly appeal. Here again, therefore, the prohibi- 
 tionists have had to record a direct failure. The sub- 
 stitutes they offer are not really substitutes at all. They 
 may suggest other stimulants in the form of tea and 
 coffee. But, taken to excess, tea and coffee may do 
 quite as much harm to the drinker's system as alcohol 
 taken to excess. The trouble, too, of making fresh tea 
 or coffee whenever wanted deprives these beverages of 
 any right to be considered ideal drinks, appropriate to 
 every occasion, even if they were taken only in 
 moderation. 
 
 The human race itself has long since decided (as I 
 have already told) that the most convenient as well 
 as the most acceptable form which the apparently 
 indispensable stimulant can take is alcohol. The pro- 
 hibitionists set up alcohol as a bogey which every one 
 should avoid. They would have the world believe that 
 not even the smallest possible quantity of alcohol can 
 be taken into the system without doing harm, and that, 
 therefore, not even the smallest quantity should be 
 taken at all. To this it may be replied, on the authority 
 of Dr. Max Schottelius, Professor of Hygiene at 
 Freiburg University, that ' every one, including the 
 strictest teetotallers, takes alcohol daily. Fresh bread 
 contains per cent, of alcohol, and that,' he adds, ' is 
 why fresh bread tastes so good.' 
 
 That much harm has been done to many individuals
 
 30 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 by an excessive use of intoxicating drinks is undeniable, 
 and the result has been to bring a vast amount of 
 wretchedness and misery into the world. But this 
 fact does not nullify the conclusion on the basis of the 
 truths already stated that there may be a perfectly 
 legitimate use for alcohol, so long as it is used in reason, 
 while there is, in effect, scarcely one thing connected 
 with ourselves or our daily life which, however good 
 in itself, would not prejudice either ourselves or others 
 if carried to excess. 
 
 One must further admit that in no instance has the 
 decline and fall of any of the nations on earth been due 
 to alcohol. On the contrary, the peoples of Northern 
 Europe, who have been, perhaps, the heaviest drinkers 
 of all, are precisely those who, in regard alike to physical 
 strength, mental vigour, and indomitable pluck and 
 enterprise, have stood at the head of the nations, and 
 made their influence most felt throughout the world. 
 It would be too much to suggest that these results are 
 due to the fact of their having been heavy drinkers. It 
 is more probable that the drinking habits merely go 
 with such physical strength and mental vigour, forming 
 traits of the same character and disposition. In any 
 case they have not seriously prejudiced national 
 character, even if so well established and so popular a 
 beverage as English ale has not actually strengthened 
 it. Had there been any real foundation for the 
 assertions so freely made by prohibitionists as to the 
 deplorable consequences that follow the consumption of 
 alcohol, the British people must long ago have become 
 a nation of degenerates, considering the amount of 
 liquor that has been consumed in these isles. 
 
 The position has been well put by Herr Karl Eugen 
 Schmidt, in an article on * The Conflict for and against 
 Alcohol in France,' in which he says :
 
 ALCOHOL AND NATIONAL PROGRESS 31 
 
 If alcohol be really dangerous to the welfare of a nation, then the 
 people who take least of it should rule the world. Who are the 
 soberest people in Europe ? They are the Spaniards, and so far 
 are they from being rulers of the world that they hardly come into 
 the reckoning at all in any question in which the great nations are 
 concerned. Then, the nations which drink most should be in the 
 lowest rank among the nations. Which is the nation that drinks 
 most? It is the British, and the British nation is the one that does 
 come nearest to ruling the world. Their influence is seen in 
 America, in Australia, in Asia, and in Africa. They rule every- 
 where, and everywhere they are faithful to the beverages in which 
 they indulge at home. So one must conclude that alcohol does not 
 prejudice the greatness of a nation. 
 
 In spite of evidence such as this, the prohibitionists 
 would abolish alcohol altogether; but until they can also 
 abolish the aforesaid instinctive desire for stimulants in 
 some form or other, their efforts to suppress or to 
 discredit ordinary alcoholic beverages are only likely to 
 lead to a resort to possibly still more harmful sub- 
 stitutes. 
 
 In my book on ' Licensing and Temperance in 
 Norway, Sweden, and Denmark,' I have shown how, 
 both in Norway and in Finland, people who were 
 unable to procure the native brandy were consuming, 
 not only ordinary methylated spirits, but the compound 
 (' politur ') used by French polishers in their work. In 
 Lapland (as I learn from a Swedish gentleman who has 
 travelled in that country) an attempt was made some 
 years ago to prevent the sale of intoxicants, with the 
 result that the people resorted to the chemist, and made 
 stimulating beverages out of dental washes or the 
 embrocations sold for the cure of rheumatism. Even 
 in England, and especially in Lancashire, people who 
 are now afraid to be seen going into a public-house, 
 lest some local teetotaller may see and denounce them, 
 will buy their pennyworth of methylated spirits from 
 the chemist, and take that, instead of the liquor to 
 which they have been accustomed.
 
 32 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 In his work on ' Disorders of Assimilation, Diges- 
 tion,' etc., Sir Lauder Brunton says : 
 
 Another stimulant which is sometimes used in place of alcohol 
 is ether. This is generally employed in manufacturing towns, and 
 sometimes has been used by the population after they have taken 
 the pledge to abstain from alcohol. ... Its effect on the nervous 
 system resembles that of alcohol, but it is produced more rapidly, 
 and passes off more quickly. 
 
 Then there are the narcotics, which appeal to the 
 same general instinct as the stimulants, the distinction 
 between the two being thus described by Sir Lauder 
 Brunton in the work just mentioned : 
 
 By stimulants we mean those things which seem to increase our 
 vital powers for the time being, and thus to give us feelings of 
 greater strength or comfort. By narcotics we mean such sub- 
 stances as lessen our relationship with the external world. When 
 used to a slight extent, narcotics simply afford pleasure by lessening 
 the restraining or depressing effect which external circumstances 
 exert upon the individual. 
 
 In the latter class opium, whether taken internally 
 or (as in China) smoked in a pipe, occupies a leading 
 position, and Sir Lauder Brunton remarks concern- 
 ing it : 
 
 In moderation opium-smoking, like opium-eating and alcohol, 
 does not seem to interfere with, but rather to assist, labour, mental 
 and bodily. . . . The chief disadvantage seems to be that the 
 taste for opium gains, if possible, a firmer hold upon its victim than 
 the taste for alcohol, and that there is a greater tendency to 
 immoderate indulgence on account of the ease with which the 
 system becomes accustomed to the drug, and the consequent 
 necessity for an increase in the dose. 
 
 Morphia, Sir Lauder proceeds, has an effect much 
 the same as opium, when taken internally or when 
 taken by injection under the skin. 
 
 The progress of the craving is generally slow and fluctuating ; 
 some are able to take large doses for many years without any 
 symptoms, whilst small quantities will bring on the most severe 
 symptoms within a few months. There are frequent intermissions,
 
 THE USE OF NARCOTICS 33 
 
 during which the morbid symptoms begin to disappear, notwith- 
 standing that the use of morphia is continued, though usually in 
 smaller doses. The improvement usually lasts, however, only for a 
 few months, when the dose is again increased, and the symptoms 
 reappear and become aggravated. If no cure is effected, the 
 ultimate result is prostration, emaciation, and death. 
 
 Of chloral, another narcotic now very much used, 
 we are told that it is 'exceedingly dangerous, both 
 from its power of causing rapid death when taken in 
 an overdose, and from its destructive effects on the 
 nervous system when taken in small doses for a long time 
 together.' 
 
 That there is an increasing resort to the use of these 
 drugs, whether by people who, as Sir Lauder Brunton 
 says, ' have taken the pledge to abstain from alcohol,' 
 or by others, is a generally recognized fact, confirma- 
 tion of which comes in striking form from the United 
 States of America that home of prohibition. It is an 
 old story (to which I shall revert in dealing with the 
 subject of prohibition in general) that people in the 
 so-called prohibition States can get all the liquor they 
 want, if they know where to go for it, and that as much 
 drinking and as much drunkenness are to be found there 
 as in any of the other States in the Union. All the 
 same, the action of the prohibitionists has led to the 
 consumption of alcoholic drinks being regarded with 
 a certain sense of shame by individuals who have not 
 lost their desire or their liking for stimulants; and what 
 is happening in the United States to-day is that people 
 are taking very extensively to the consumption either 
 of drugs or of patent medicines which contain, in many 
 instances, a still larger proportion of alcohol than the 
 recognized alcoholic drinks themselves. 
 
 Dr. Grinnell, to whom I have referred on p. 27, has 
 made an inquiry into the subject, and has published 
 some remarkable facts. After watching the effect of 
 
 3
 
 34 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 the (so-called) prohibitory law in Vermont and other 
 States, where alcohol was not to be sold except for 
 medical, chemical, or mechanical purposes, he arrived 
 at the conclusion that many persons were using some 
 artificial stimulant in lieu of alcohol, and he addressed 
 a circular letter to the keepers of drug stores and 
 general stores in the State of Vermont, asking for 
 particulars as to their sales of various drugs. The 
 replies he received were far from complete, and he 
 concluded that the figures he got could be multiplied by 
 five, and still remain below the consumption. He says 
 concerning them : 
 
 In the regular drug stores and in 160 of the 172 general stores 
 in the State of Vermont they sell every month 3,300,000 doses of 
 opium, besides what they dispense in patent medicines, and besides 
 what the doctors dispense, which gives one and a half doses of 
 opium to every man and woman in the State of Vermont above the 
 age of twenty-one years every day in the year. (By dose I mean 
 I grain of opium, J grain of morphia, ounce of paregoric, and 
 20 drops of laudanum). And the amount consumed would average 
 a dose to every man, woman, and child in the State of Vermont 
 every day in the year. 
 
 Taking 69 out of 244 towns in the State (where 
 go per cent, of the doctors dispense their own drugs), 
 116 of 130 drug stores reported total sales during the 
 course of a single month as follows : Opium, 47 Ibs. 
 12 ozs.; morphine powders, 19 Ibs. 15 ozs.; morphine 
 pills, 3,338 grs. ; Dover powder, 25 Ibs. ; paregoric, 
 32 gals, i pt. ; laudanum, 32 gals. ; cocaine, 27 ozs. 
 i dr. 30 grs. ; chloral, 32 Ibs. 4 ozs. ; Indian hemp, 
 37 ozs. ; quinine powder, 15 Ibs. 10 ozs. ; quinine pills, 
 74,200 grs. In one of two drug stores in a certain 
 town the monthly sales include 3 pounds of opium, 
 i gallon of paregoric, f gallon of laudanum, 5 ounces 
 of powdered quinine, and 1,000 2 -grain quinine 
 pills.
 
 ALCOHOL IN POPULAR DRUGS 35 
 
 Dr. Grinnell further says : 
 
 It may be urged that quinine is not a stimulant ; but any physician 
 will verify my statement that to many it is a great stimulant, and a 
 2-grain quinine pill will flush the face as much as a drink of whisky, 
 unless one is accustomed to its use. You can hardly find a man 
 travelling who hasn't a bottle of quinine pills in his pocket ; he 
 says he is afraid he will have a cold, and keeps them as a guard 
 against such a misfortune. . . . 
 
 For several years I appointed medical examiners for life insurance 
 companies doing business in Vermont and New Hampshire. . . . 
 The companies told me that the tates where they had the most 
 trouble with drunken doctors were Prohibition States, and they 
 showed me statistics in regard to it. 
 
 The officer in command at Fort Ethan Allen told me that he had 
 had charge of United States troops in many military stations in 
 the West, where drinking-saloons outnumbered other places of 
 abode, and that he never had so many in the guard-house for 
 drunkenness as he had in Vermont. 
 
 No less significant is the enormous increase in the 
 taking of patent medicines containing alcohol. In the 
 report for 1902 of the Massachusetts State Board of 
 Health analyses were given of sixty-one well-known 
 and widely patronized ' tonics,' ' bitters,' and other 
 proprietary medicines, showing the percentage of 
 alcohol in each. The range was from 6 to 47*5 per 
 cent., the average being 20*4 per cent. Included in 
 the sixty-one were nine which had been advertised as 
 follows, the amount of alcohol they had been found to 
 contain being appended : 
 
 Alcohol per Cent. 
 
 'Not a rum drink' ... ... ... ... 13-2 
 
 ' Purely vegetable, recommended for inebriates ' ... 41-6 
 
 ' Entirely harmless' ... ... ... ... 19-5 
 
 ' Not an alcoholic beverage ' ... ... ... 6'o 
 
 ' Entirely vegetable and free from alcoholic stimu- 
 lant' ... ... ... ... ... 25-6 
 
 'Contains no alcohol' ... ... ... 20-5 
 
 ' Contains no spirit' ... ... ... ... 6'i 
 
 ' A non-intoxicating stimulant : whisky without its 
 
 sting' ... ... ... ... ... 28-2 
 
 ' Recommended for treatment of alcoholic habit ' 26-5 
 
 32
 
 36 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 In reproducing the full list in his pamphlet, Dr. 
 Grinnell says : 
 
 It will be noted in this list that thirty-four samples contain one- 
 fifth or more of alcohol. . . . Fifteen of the sixty-one samples 
 examined contained one-fourth or more of alcohol, ten samples 
 contained one-third or more of alcohol, four samples contained 
 nearly one-half. 
 
 All the bottles containing these different tonics were surrounded 
 by a label with full directions as to use, in various doses from a 
 teaspoonful to a wineglassful. to be taken from one to four times 
 a day, and increased as needed. 
 
 Dr. Grinnell further relates that Dr. A. J. Reed, of 
 the Battle Creek Sanatorium, recently made for the 
 periodical, the Lifeboat, of Himsdale, Illinois, an inter- 
 esting experiment, for the purpose of further testing 
 the amount of alcohol in patent medicines. In four 
 different cans he put a tablespoonful each of ' Hos- 
 tetter's Stomach Bitters,' ' Peruna/ ' Lydia Pinkham's 
 Vegetable Compound,' and beer. Each was connected 
 by a rubber tube to a gas-burner and mantle, heat 
 was applied, and the vapour produced was ignited and 
 burned as follows : 
 
 Minutes. Seconds. 
 'Hosteller's Stomach Bitters' ... ... 4 o 
 
 'Peruna' ... ... ... ... 2 40 
 
 ' Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound ' ... 2 35 
 
 Beer ... ... ... ... ... o 20 
 
 The significance of these remarkable facts becomes 
 greater still when one learns that the tonics and 
 bitters in question have their largest sale in those 
 very States where the most active efforts are made to 
 enforce prohibition. Admitting that a certain per- 
 centage are taken for strictly medical purposes, it may 
 fairly be assumed that, in their case, as of the drugs 
 previously referred to, a substantial part of the con- 
 sumption is directly due to the craving for some stimu- 
 lant to take the place of the ordinary beers, wines, or
 
 A TREACHEROUS BUSINESS 37 
 
 spirits, the use of which has been either checked by 
 the law, or, under the influence of teetotal sentiment, 
 discredited by public opinion. 
 
 Whether or not, however, the consumers of these 
 pernicious drugs realize that in taking them they are 
 consuming alcohol in one of its worst, because one of 
 its most treacherous, forms is open to doubt. In some 
 cases they do, but in many instances they do not. All 
 they may know and feel is that the drug has a stimu- 
 lating effect on them, and they take it accordingly, 
 with, it sometimes happens, the most deplorable results. 
 Towards the end of 1906 a lady, who had been a 
 prominent and active supporter of the temperance 
 movement in England, died under circumstances that 
 were somewhat mysterious, and a post-mortem examina- 
 tion was made. It revealed the existence of alcoholic 
 disease of the liver, and the fact was then recalled that 
 for a long time she had been in the habit of dosing 
 herself with a certain tonic, which, unknown to herself, 
 contained a large percentage of alcohol. The craving 
 for a stimulant had been felt by the unfortunate lady, 
 and while, probably, warning people around her of the 
 dangers of ' drinking,' she had herself succumbed to the 
 instinct she had sought to overcome in others. 
 
 The insidious nature of the business and the gravity 
 of the mischief resulting from it though the full rami- 
 fications thereof have not yet been sufficiently realized 
 certainly call for legislative action ; and it is satisfactory 
 to know that in America the policy adopted in 1906 by 
 Mr. John W. Yerkes, Commissioner of International 
 Revenue, in requiring all druggists selling intoxicating 
 tonics under the form of medicines to take out liquor 
 licences, has been followed by a provision in the Pure 
 Food Act, which came into force on January I, 1907, 
 requiring that all malt tonics and malt extracts passing 
 
 '*
 
 38 HUMANITY AND STIMULANTS 
 
 from one State to another, and offered for sale by drug- 
 gists as possessing medicinal qualities, shall bear a label 
 setting forth the percentage of alcohol (if any) they 
 contain. 
 
 These have clearly been steps in the right direction, 
 and the policy thus adopted in the United States is one 
 that may well be commended to the notice of the authori- 
 ties in Great Britain, where the ' drug habit ' is not only 
 steadily growing, but is likely to receive still further 
 encouragement if the American producers of quack 
 medicines, finding their sales in their own country 
 checked somewhat under the new regulations now in 
 force, seek to find a still larger market in this country 
 for their concoctions than they do already. 
 
 My own particular concern with this drug habit, 
 however, is the further evidence it offers in support of 
 the contention here advanced : (i) That the desire for 
 occasional stimulants is so deeply implanted in human 
 nature, as an integral part thereof, that one cannot 
 hope to eradicate it altogether ; (2) that, if checked in 
 the form of a moderate consumption of ordinary alcoholic 
 beverages, it may assume some other form much more 
 injurious to the individual, if not eventually to society; 
 and (3) that the combination of these two facts simply 
 serves to establish more clearly than ever the raison 
 d'etre for that trade in alcoholic drinks which aims at 
 supplying, in legalized fashion, and under effective con- 
 trol, what must, in face of the truths here advanced, 
 unquestionably be regarded as ' a public want.'
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 FOLLOWING up the arguments already advanced, one 
 comes next to the proposition that if, as the story of the 
 ages shows, the consumption of stimulants in the form 
 of alcohol really responds to an undeniable need on the 
 part of human nature, alike psychologically and physi- 
 cally, then such consumption must be regarded as 
 perfectly legitimate, provided that a due distinction is 
 maintained between use and abuse. 
 
 The prohibitionists, however, will recognize no such 
 distinction. They seem to regard the moderate drinker, 
 who uses alcohol discreetly, as even more deserving of 
 their reprobation than the drunkard who abuses it per- 
 sistently. International conferences where British and 
 American teetotal extremists have come into collision 
 with Continental temperance advocates having more 
 liberal ideas on the question have been scenes of pas- 
 sionate declamation on the part of the representatives 
 whose policy is one of the most absolute 'total 
 abstinence.' 
 
 Just, again, as the latter party persist in confounding 
 use and abuse, so also will they draw no distinction 
 between beverages with different degrees of alcoholic 
 strength. Having first confounded the moderate drinker 
 with the drunkard, they next put even the lightest 
 
 39
 
 40 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 qualities of ale or beer under the same ban of con- 
 demnation as the strongest of spirits. They describe 
 them both as 'drink,' irrespective of obvious distinc- 
 tions, and proceed to rail against such ' drink ' as 
 though it represented only a single beverage, and that 
 the most fiery. 
 
 An attitude of this kind is both illogical and re- 
 grettable. If the so-called ' temperance ' party would 
 direct their campaign against the abuses of alcohol, 
 they would gain a substantially larger measure of public 
 support. If they would even refrain from regarding 
 beer and spirits from exactly the same standpoint, they 
 would appeal much more to public reason. Far greater 
 progress might thus be made by them in promoting the 
 sobriety of the nation. Such sobriety would, indeed, 
 be at once assured if only the British people all 
 became strictly moderate drinkers of beer or wine. 
 The ' liquor question,' which only came in with the 
 introduction of spirits, would then be a question no 
 longer. 
 
 The evils that are really caused by drink are un- 
 deniably and deplorably great. Every one is aware of 
 that fact, not only from what he reads and hears, but 
 also from what he sees within the limits of his own 
 circle of acquaintance. Yet here one cannot acquit 
 the prohibitionists of great exaggeration. They look 
 on society from one standpoint only, and they conclude, 
 and would have the world believe, that ' drink ' is 
 the one great cause alike of crime, lunacy, poverty, 
 pauperism, and so on, ignoring every other considera- 
 tion, and making ' drink ' responsible for much more 
 than is its due. 
 
 In regard to crime, this tendency to exaggeration has 
 been especially marked. Every one is acquainted with 
 the familiar declaration, ' It is drink that fills our gaols.'
 
 DRINK AND CRIME 41 
 
 The cry is constantly being repeated, with variations, 
 on temperance platforms throughout the land, though 
 different speakers give different figures as to the exact 
 proportion of crimes attributable to drink, some putting 
 it at half, others at three-fifths, and others even at nine- 
 tenths, according to the vigour of their imagination. 
 
 I once asked the chief clerk at one of the leading 
 police-courts in London what he thought of the allega- 
 tion that the great majority of crimes and offences must 
 be attributed to drink, and he replied : 
 
 I have often heard the statement, but, in my experience, drink is 
 the real cause of crime in only a comparatively small number of 
 instances. I know that in many cases drunkenness is pleaded 
 as an extenuating circumstance, because it is supposed to influence 
 the magistrate's mind ; but, personally, I never pay any attention 
 to it. The wife of a man who is charged with assaulting her will 
 often say, ' Please, sir, he did it when he was drunk. He's a very 
 good husband when he's sober.' But I generally find he's the sort 
 of brute who would ill-treat his wife whatever his condition. As for 
 serious crime, do you think that a burglar, a swindler, or a forger 
 would get drunk before he committed his misdeed ? 
 
 This view is well confirmed by a statement made by 
 the Rev. J. Cartmel Robinson, of Chiswick, on the 
 results of a mission he conducted among the convicts 
 at Dartmoor in the autumn of 1905 : 
 
 The deepest impression I have brought away from Dartmoor is 
 that drink is not responsible for the serious crimes to anything like 
 the extent some people imagine. Yes, and I was surprised myself 
 at the discovery. Drink and crime have been so long associated 
 in the public mind that I confess, as a teetotaller, I held the common 
 opinion myself. My experience at Dartmoor forces me to change 
 my opinion. It is an instructive point to all who are concerned 
 with the problems of crime, and I submit it as one worthy of a 
 broader consideration than it has yet received. It is so easy to 
 generalize and say drink is the cause of nearly all crimes. No one 
 wants to minimize the evils of drink. My impression, however, is 
 that the men who are undergoing the long sentences are, as a 
 general rule, not the victims of drink. Many of them, I found, had 
 been lifelong teetotallers. Nay, some of the worst offences had 
 been committed by teetotallers. From which it is an obvious 
 deduction that teetotallism, whatever its undeniably good effects
 
 42 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 on so many people, must not be regarded, as some of its extreme 
 adherents regard it, as a sufficient safeguard in itself against crime. 
 Some of my friends may not like this frank admission, but I speak 
 of what I found at Dartmoor. 
 
 A like conclusion was formed at Dartmoor by a 
 special correspondent of the Tribune, who went there 
 to inquire into the conditions of prison life. After 
 speaking of the wonderful natural ability shown by 
 confirmed criminals of all classes, from high-class 
 swindlers and forgers to burglars and others, he added : 
 
 A strange statement this to make, but the bulk of these specialists 
 in crime who represent the genius of evil are confirmed teetotallers ! 
 
 When one comes to look both at the past history of 
 our race and at the actual conditions of our everyday 
 existence, the conclusion must be formed that, as a 
 direct instigator of crime and evil in the world, alcohol 
 has played, and still plays, quite a minor role as com- 
 pared with other influences that have been leading 
 causes of human action, including therein influences 
 which, fundamentally, would seem to be implanted in 
 man for the purpose of ensuring for him the greatest 
 possible good. 
 
 Taking the religious instinct as the highest of all 
 among these various factors, the reader of history 
 stands appalled at that awful catalogue of crimes and 
 merciless cruelties inspired throughout the ages by 
 superstition, fanaticism, and bigotry. The religious 
 wars of the Mohammedan tribes, the alternate perse- 
 cutions of Protestants and Catholics, of Church and 
 Dissent, the horrors of the Inquisition, the cold-blooded 
 barbarities inflicted by Spain on the Netherlands, and 
 even the massacres of Jews in Russia in our own day, 
 far exceed in horror anything that could be set down 
 under the head of crimes directly due to alcohol. In 
 such catalogue, indeed, there is no suggestion that the
 
 EVIL WITHOUT ALCOHOL 43 
 
 evil done was due in any way to intoxicating drinks. 
 It was not from this source that Torquemada and the 
 Duke of Alva drew their inspiration. It was rather 
 from the aforesaid religious instinct. Yet none but an 
 Atheist would be likely to suggest that, because such 
 things may have been done in the name of religion, 
 therefore we should seek to abolish religion, and abstain 
 entirely from whatever the religious instinct prompts us 
 to do. 
 
 What shall we say, again, of the crimes and the evil 
 done in the name of greed ? In itself the desire for 
 wealth, property, possessions, or higher rank, is not 
 only natural and pardonable, but is an essential factor 
 in that spirit of progress which raises man above the 
 animals, and inspires the advancement both of indi- 
 viduals and of nations. But, carried to extremes, or 
 not held in check by considerations of right or wrong, 
 such desire has instigated endless cruelty, injustice, or 
 wrongdoing on the part alike of conquerors, of peoples, 
 and of unscrupulous persons. Did not the Apostle 
 Paul himself write (and wrongly so, if the theory of the 
 prohibitionists be correct) that ' the love of money,' 
 and not of alcohol, ' is the root of all evil ' ? And the 
 evil springing from such love once more far exceeds 
 in gravity and extent the evil that has been done by 
 an excessive consumption of intoxicating drinks. Yet, 
 again, no one to-day suggests that we should totally 
 abstain from money, and eradicate entirely either the 
 desire for its possession or the instinct that inspires the 
 wish for personal or national wealth and advancement. 
 
 Then there is the varied series of crimes and offences 
 having their rise in that most potent of human instincts, 
 known either as love or as lust, according to the par- 
 ticular form it may assume. A perfectly natural instinct 
 in itself, for, though Dame Nature troubles herself but
 
 44 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 little about the individual, she is greatly concerned in 
 the preservation of a species, and she has planted in 
 man, in common with the animal world in general, 
 such impulses that continuity will be assured. But 
 what a list of shocking deeds or unhappy consequences 
 following on the promptings of this, in itself, natural 
 instinct one could make up ! What a record we should 
 have if we could only be told of all the enormities com- 
 mitted, of all the persons ruined body or soul, as the 
 direct and direful result of what poets are pleased to 
 call ' the tender passion ' ! Once more the corresponding 
 record of like results due to alcohol becomes insignificant 
 in comparison. Yet not even here does anyone (except 
 a certain party of fanatics in the United States) suggest 
 that, because these conditions exist, therefore there 
 should be total abstinence from the said tender passion, 
 or any uprooting of an instinct which needs only but 
 does indeed need to be wisely controlled. 
 
 There are other sources of crime as well, such as 
 anger, hatred, malice, vengeance, extravagance of living, 
 poverty from unemployment, or an exaggerated sense 
 of social, economic, or political injustice ; while Pro- 
 fessor Cesare Lombroso, of Turin, in his work, ' The 
 Criminal,' has shown, as the result of psychological 
 studies carried on for twenty years, that 40 per cent, 
 of all habitual delinquents belong to a well-defined 
 anthropological type which he styles the ' born criminal ' 
 (delinquente nato). In this type he found atavism, moral 
 insanity, and epileptic degeneracy, either predominating 
 one over the other, or forming a strange admixture of 
 psychological peculiarities in harmony with abnor- 
 malities in the anatomical structure and physiological 
 functions. In the formation of the head and face of 
 many criminals of this type, Lombroso observed charac- 
 teristics either of prehistoric people or of people still
 
 CRIME AND DRUNKENNESS 45 
 
 living in a state of barbarism, and in their soul-life he 
 discovered inclinations and passions (such, for instance, 
 as cannibalism) which have been in past ages, or still 
 are, prevalent among savage tribes. 
 
 In view of all the considerations here presented, there 
 are obviously many other, and even much more power- 
 ful, factors in the production of crime and evil in the 
 world than the drinking of alcoholic beverages, and the 
 extremists who would attribute everything to this one 
 cause cannot have studied adequately the various factors 
 of what is really a very complex situation. 
 
 Coming into the domain of actual statistics concern- 
 ing drunkenness and crime, the prohibitionists will gain 
 no support for their arguments from the Judicial 
 Statistics of the United Kingdom for 1905, published in 
 February, 1907. In his introduction to the return, Sir 
 John Macdonell, C.B., LL.D., Master of the Supreme 
 Court, deals with the ' difficult question whether crimes 
 vary with the consumption of alcohol, as asserted by 
 certain statisticians.' He finds there is no complete 
 information on which a definite conclusion can be based, 
 and he expresses the view that the extent of consump- 
 tion follows the movements of trade, increasing when it 
 is prosperous and decreasing when it is bad. 'Yet,' 
 he says, 'the reverse is, generally speaking, true of 
 crimes against property,' and that class of offences 
 is one which constitutes a large percentage of the 
 whole. It would seem, in effect, that when trade is 
 good people drink more and commit fewer crimes, and 
 when trade is bad they drink less and commit more 
 crimes. 
 
 Sir John Macdonell naturally finds that drunkenness 
 is the cause of many crimes, and the accompaniment of 
 many others. These are facts which everybody admits. 
 The real question is whether or not the actual relation-
 
 46 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 ship between drink and crime is not unduly magnified, 
 and whether it exists to such an extent that society 
 must arise, and, in defence of its own interests, insist on 
 prohibitory measures being enacted against the entire 
 community, with a view to the abolition of so potent a 
 ' cause ' of crime as alcoholic beverages are alleged to 
 represent. On this point Sir John Macdonell goes on 
 to say that the theory of correspondence between crime 
 and drunkenness ' must be viewed with caution.' 
 
 It has been more especially represented that, while 
 the perpetrators of crimes of the higher type 
 burglaries, forgeries, etc. may avoid intoxicants 
 when committing their deeds, drink is, nevertheless, 
 a great instigator of acts of violence. But even 
 here the judicial statistics do not support the pro- 
 hibitionist view, for Sir John Macdonell gives a table 
 covering ten years which suggests that there is really no 
 relationship between cases of drunkenness and the 
 number of assaults committed, although these, he 
 remarks, are ' two kinds of offences as to which might 
 be expected the closest affinity.' His table, in which 
 the figures given are calculated per 100,000 of the 
 population, is as follows : 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 
 Prosecutions 
 for 
 Drunkenness. 
 
 Prosecutions 
 for 
 Assaults. 
 
 1896 
 
 
 
 
 608 
 
 237 
 
 1897 
 
 
 
 
 62O 
 
 235 
 
 1898 
 
 
 
 
 643 
 
 230 
 
 1899 
 
 
 
 
 672 
 
 231 
 
 1900 
 
 
 
 
 634 
 
 203 
 
 1901 
 
 
 
 
 645 
 
 197 
 
 1902 
 
 
 
 
 636 
 
 186 
 
 1903 
 
 
 
 
 690 
 
 175 
 
 1904 
 
 
 
 
 674 
 
 163 
 
 1905 
 
 
 
 
 642 
 
 155
 
 DRINK AND INSANITY 47 
 
 It will be seen from these figures that the cases of 
 drunkenness were especially high in 1903 and 1904, yet 
 in those same years the cases of assault were especially 
 low. Where, then, is the evidence, not merely of the 
 closest affinity, but of any affinity at all between the 
 two kinds of offences ? 
 
 In regard to insanity, the ordinary course of reasoning 
 is extremely simple. If a person who becomes insane 
 is also addicted to drink, it is assumed that the insanity 
 has been the result of the drink. In the reports of the 
 Commissioners in Lunacy the ' causes ' of the insanity 
 of persons under detention are all duly specified and 
 catalogued, and the fact that the total under the head 
 of ' intemperance in drink ' is always considerable is 
 readily seized upon by the prohibitionists as proof of 
 their assertion that ' drink fills our asylums.' Even on 
 the basis of the official figures such a statement is an 
 obvious exaggeration, because, apart from the many 
 other ' physical causes,' the average annual admissions 
 from 'intemperance in drink' 3,347 is still below the 
 total 4,313 of those whose lunacy is attributed to 
 exclusively ' moral causes,' such as domestic trouble, 
 including loss of relatives and friends (responsible 
 for 1,309 cases) ; adverse circumstances, including busi- 
 ness anxieties and pecuniary difficulties (988) ; mental 
 anxiety, ' worry,' and overwork (1203) ; religious excite- 
 ment (299) ; love affairs (254) ; fright and nervous 
 shock (260). 
 
 It is, however, a matter for serious consideration 
 whether intemperance in drink is not oftener merely 
 a symptom than an actual cause of insanity. Many 
 thousands of persons in this country are habitually 
 intemperate without becoming insane. Were drink 
 alone a cause of insanity, then a far larger number of 
 persons should be affected. If a given number of indi-
 
 48 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 viduals were either to take prussic acid or to eat heartily 
 of diseased meat, one would expect them all to show 
 signs of poisoning, as a direct consequence of what they 
 had taken into their system. But in no such sense as 
 this is alcohol a cause of insanity, and the fact that only 
 a very small proportion indeed of those who drink 
 alcoholic liquors, even to excess, become insane sug- 
 gests that there must be other causes for the insanity 
 than merely the liquor that is consumed. The excessive 
 drinking may be evidence of a breakdown of moral 
 control, or an active manifestation of abnormal physical 
 conditions indicative of actual lunacy, or of a disposition 
 thereto; but it does not necessarily follow that drink 
 bears the same relation to lunacy which cause does to 
 effect. 
 
 These points were brought out very clearly by a corres- 
 pondent of The Times in a series of articles on ' The 
 Growth of Insanity ' published in that journal in 1906, 
 the concluding one being given on December 27 in that 
 year. The correspondent argued, among other things 
 
 That the commonly accepted ' causes ' of insanity, such as in- 
 heritance, intemperance, emotion, and so forth, are conditions 
 constantly affecting large numbers of persons who do not become 
 insane, and that no ' causation,' in the proper sense of the word, 
 can be attributed to them. The vera causa in every case must be 
 some changed condition of the blood or tissues, of such a kind as 
 to produce disturbance of function in the brain-cells which are sub- 
 servient to thought, and also, if sufficiently severe or long continued, 
 to produce degeneration of their structure. 
 
 He further declared that there had been no substantial 
 advance of knowledge with regard either to the causa- 
 tion of insanity, to the recognition of warnings that it 
 may be impending, or to the discovery of means by 
 which it may be prevented or cured. He himself con- 
 sidered there could be little reasonable doubt that 
 insanity is essentially toxic in its origin. ' The toxins
 
 DRINK AND DESTITUTION 49 
 
 may be microbic, derived from intruders from without, 
 or they may afford illustrations of self-poisoning by the 
 defective performance of secreting or excreting functions; 
 but it is practically certain that they must be present.' 
 He thought it more likely, on the whole, that excessive 
 drinking is caused by a tendency towards insanity, with 
 consequent diminution of self-control, than that insanity 
 is caused by drinking, and he added on this point : 
 
 I remember that, some years ago, a remarkable increase of 
 insanity in certain counties was coincident with an equally remark- 
 able diminution in the quantity of beer consumed within their 
 limits ; and it then seemed probable that agricultural distress was 
 mainly responsible for both conditions for the insanity as well as 
 for the sobriety. 
 
 Some of the theories advanced by this expert in the 
 course of his articles did not escape adverse criticism ; 
 but his remarks in regard to intemperance and lunacy 
 seem to be well founded, and to have, at least, more 
 weight on their side than is to be found in the customary 
 sweeping assertions of prejudiced temperance advocates. 
 
 When they come to speak of poverty and destitution 
 as caused by undue indulgence in drink, the prohibi- 
 tionists would appear to be on surer ground. There 
 are innumerable instances of families which have been 
 ruined and brought into dire distress because the bread- 
 winner, with no special provocation thereto, has spent 
 on drink the money that should have been devoted to 
 the maintenance of his wife and children. On the other 
 hand, there are a vast number of people who become 
 poor first, and take to drink afterwards as a means of 
 drowning or alleviating their trouble. Their poverty 
 may be due to bereavement, to misfortune in business, 
 to loss of employment, to ill-health, to old age, to 
 natural indolence or lack of capacity, to a want of 
 moral fibre, or to various other causes which, in them- 
 
 4
 
 50 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 selves, have no direct concern with intoxicants. But, 
 becoming poor, they may find that the only harbour of 
 refuge open to them, the only place where they can be 
 sure of warmth, shelter, and comfort, is the public- 
 house ; and the beverages sold there they may regard, 
 not alone as liquid food, but as a means of ensuring 
 them temporary forgetfulness from their troubles. So 
 they ' take to drink,' but their drunkenness is due to 
 their poverty, rather than their poverty to their drunken- 
 ness. They may end their days in the workhouse ; 
 but one cannot fairly include them among the 'victims' 
 of drink. 'Victims of misfortune' would be a more 
 appropriate term. 
 
 Then come the victims of industrial conditions. 
 There are men of the casual type, such as dockers or 
 other riverside labourers, whose work is intermittent, 
 who endure much exposure, and who, on obtaining a 
 job of work, feel the need of a stimulant to brace them 
 up for the more or less exhausting effort that such work 
 may involve. There are trades, such as glass-blowing 
 or metal- working, where the nature of the occupation is 
 naturally provocative of thirst; and there are others 
 where the taking of liquor at certain stated hours during 
 the day is a recognized custom, which only men who 
 are especially strong-minded would attempt to disregard. 
 
 There are, next, the victims of social or domestic 
 conditions those, namely, who cannot help drinking 
 to excess among their fellows, or who frequent the 
 public-house as an alternative to squalid tenements or 
 the discomforts of an unhappy home life. 
 
 These are conditions, again, that may lead to such a 
 degree of drinking as will materially affect the circum- 
 stances of the individual; but in each instance there 
 are factors other than drink that are concerned both in 
 the cause and the cure of the evil, and to attribute
 
 VIEWS OF FATHER VAUGHAN 51 
 
 entirely to 'drink' such poverty as might eventually 
 arise in the case of men and women so situated would 
 leave these other factors entirely out of consideration, 
 and convey an impression that would be absolutely 
 misleading. 
 
 No denouncer of social evils would probably be more 
 ready than Father Bernard Vaughan to condemn 
 alcoholic beverages if he really thought them a leading 
 cause of destitution. Yet in a speech he delivered at 
 Liverpool on February 5, 1907, this eminent authority 
 on present-day conditions said : 
 
 Let them look things squarely in the face. They ought to ask 
 themselves whether they had done their duty to their servants and 
 to the poor in the street. The other day when he offered 2d. to a 
 man in the street he was told by his companion he would only 
 spend it upon drink. And he replied ' Why not ?' Was he to be 
 the only man without 2d. for a glass of beer if he wanted it ? Fie 
 upon those who prevented the poor from getting a drink while they 
 emptied the decanter themselves ! They were told by some that all 
 this poverty was due to drink. What fudge and nonsense people 
 could talk ! It was all blithering idiocy ! There was not a word of 
 truth in it. Some of the poverty came from drink, but if these poor 
 people were better physically set up, even that much poverty would 
 not come from drink. The drink upset them, because they had no 
 food to take with it. Let them have food, and the drink would not 
 do them so much harm. Much poverty was caused by the rush 
 from the country into the towns, people thinking that the cities 
 were paved with gold, that everyone wanted their employ, and that 
 they would soon find work. At last they found they had gone 
 from bad to worse, until their children were mentally, morally, and 
 physically incapable of fighting with the aliens, who could live upon 
 less, and the bits which they otherwise might have picked up were 
 snatched from them by these foreigners. And thus the poor 
 English were left to starve, and those whom they brought into this 
 world were not properly fed and clothed, and when they grew up 
 to an age when they ought to seek their own livelihood there was 
 nothing they were capable of doing that was at hand. So they 
 became numbered amongst the submerged. 
 
 The tendency to fasten upon some single cause, and 
 to attribute thereto every possible defect, disadvantage, 
 or shortcoming in our daily life, is one as old as 
 humanity itself. In the childhood of our race it was 
 
 42
 
 52 PROHIBITIONIST EXAGGERATIONS 
 
 the gods who did everything, even the ordinary natural 
 phenomena being simply manifestations of their will or 
 movement. In the Middle Ages plagues and pestilences 
 were regarded as punishments inflicted on the people 
 by the Almighty because of their sins, instead of being 
 traced to a wholesale neglect of the laws of health and 
 sanitation. Minor evils were all attributed to so-called 
 witches, who were ducked, drowned, or burned at the 
 stake with no more consideration than the average 
 prohibitionist to-day would show in evicting (if he 
 might) the average publican. Religious fanatics in 
 Spain once regarded Protestants as the source of all 
 misfortune, and burned them, too. Protestant reformers 
 in England preached that the Mass was ' the fountain 
 of all impurity and the source of every evil that exists 
 in the world,' and they, in turn, tried to get rid of the 
 Papists. Prynne, in 1633, declared that dancing was 
 the source of all crimes. ' So many steps in a dance,' 
 he said, ' so many paces to hell.' Now it has become 
 the fashion to say that alcohol is the source of all evil. 
 ' So many drinks in a public-house/ we are told (in 
 effect), ' so many paces to the gaol, the asylum, or the 
 workhouse.' 
 
 If all the ills that afflict mankind could thus be 
 reduced to one primal cause, or if all the enemies to 
 our social welfare possessed only one neck in common, 
 capable of being severed at a single blow, the position 
 would be greatly simplified. It would, besides, save a 
 vast amount of mental exertion. Instead of thinking 
 out things, collecting data from a great variety of 
 sources, and gradually deducing trustworthy con- 
 clusions therefrom, one would start with certain con- 
 clusions ready made, accept anything that seemed to 
 support them, and ignore everything else. You check 
 the one source of all evil, or you take off the head of the
 
 THE PRIMAL CAUSE DELUSION 53 
 
 one enemy whom you imagine to be doing all the 
 mischief, and the complete regeneration of mankind 
 begins at once. 
 
 But, as it happens, social and economic conditions 
 in this extremely complex world of ours are not capable 
 of being disposed of, or of being regenerated, in this 
 very simple fashion. It is really childish to suppose 
 that all the crime and evil done in the world would 
 cease if only the supply of alcoholic drink were stopped. 
 It is even doubtful if they would be seriously diminished, 
 unless those other causes I have mentioned could all be 
 abolished as well. Nor would lunacy, so largely due 
 to physiological or psychological defects or influences, 
 or poverty, so often a precursor rather than a conse- 
 quence of drink, necessarily vanish, or even, again, 
 be very materially decreased, if beer, wines, or spirits 
 disappeared from the list of popular beverages. 
 
 As for the habitual drunkards, their position offers so 
 many special considerations that to them I must devote 
 a separate chapter.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE TRUE MORAL OF HABITUAL 
 DRUNKENNESS 
 
 MANY of the strongest arguments advanced by pro- 
 hibitionists, local optionists, and anti-alcoholists in 
 general, are based on the more or less ' awful examples ' 
 of individuals who are ' slaves to drink ' ; on statistics 
 of convictions for drunkenness ; or on statements, which 
 never fail to produce their effect at temperance meet- 
 ings, as to the extent to which drunkenness ' helps to 
 fill our gaols and lunatic asylums.' On facts and asser- 
 tions of this type is generally based the contention that, 
 because conditions are as thus represented, therefore 
 temptation should be removed from the path of the 
 drunkard ; therefore the opportunities for the purchase 
 of alcoholic beverages should be greatly reduced, if not 
 abolished altogether ; and therefore those who take 
 such beverages in moderation, and without any injury to 
 themselves, may well be called upon to make sacrifices, 
 forgo pleasures, and suffer inconveniences in obtaining 
 what they regard as necessaries, in order that the 
 interests of the possible victims of excess may be duly 
 safeguarded. 
 
 From this point of view it becomes a matter of some 
 importance to study the natural condition and tem- 
 perament of the drunkard for whose welfare these par- 
 
 54
 
 REPORT UNDER INEBRIATES ACT 55 
 
 ticular demands are made on society, and to consider 
 whether the sacrifices in question are really called for 
 by the circumstances of the case. 
 
 Is drunkenness, in fact, the result simply of com- 
 bined social and licensing conditions, and capable of 
 repression by a resort to severely restrictive measures ; 
 or are there psychological, neurotic, physiological, and 
 other factors which require to be taken into most 
 serious consideration before one can arrive at a really 
 trustworthy conclusion ? 
 
 Various German medical authorities who have 
 studied the subject from the latter point of view are 
 of opinion that, instead of nervous weakness or disease 
 and various other forms of physical degeneracy being 
 the result of drunkenness, they are very often only a 
 cause thereof; but such of the statements to this effect 
 as have come under my notice are somewhat lacking in 
 completeness, and are based mainly on general lines, 
 without confirmatory data. Much more valuable and 
 much more convincing, from my present standpoint, is 
 the Report presented to Parliament in November, 1906, 
 by the inspector under the Inebriates Acts, 1879 to 
 1900 (Mr. R. Welsh Branthwaite), for the year 1905. 
 Here one finds, in addition to the ordinary annual 
 report, a most careful study of the characteristics of 
 habitual drunkards, as met with in the reformatories 
 established under the Acts in question ; and this study 
 must carry the greater weight because it is based on 
 definite experiences, and is the work of a Government 
 official, free from prejudices, and dealing only with facts 
 as he has found them. 
 
 One learns from the Report that down to the end of 
 1905 the number of persons who had been committed 
 to the reformatories for inebriates was 1,873, and these 
 are grouped, in respect to mental condition, as follows :
 
 56 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 (i) Insane (certified and sent to asylums), 48 ; (2) very 
 defective (imbeciles, degenerates, epileptics), 271 ; (3) de- 
 fective (the same as (2), but less marked, eccentric, 
 silly, dull, senile, or subject to periodical paroxysms 
 of ungovernable temper), 857; (4) of average mental 
 capacity on admission or after six months' deten- 
 tion, 697. Thus, the insane, the very defective, and 
 the defective, form 627 per cent, of the total, and 
 those of average mental capacity 37*3 per cent. The 
 significance of the former figure is most striking, but 
 it becomes still more so as Mr. Branthwaite proceeds 
 to deal with the various causes which lead to so high a 
 proportion. 
 
 In regard to the first of the four groups the inspector 
 says : 
 
 Amongst the forty-eight persons classified as insane none have 
 been included except those actually certified during their refor- 
 matory sentence and sent to asylums. Some of these, when first 
 admitted to reformatories, were found to be suffering from delu- 
 sions ; others were in an excited state which merged into mania ; 
 a third section contained persons obviously demented ; a fourth 
 melancholic and suicidal ; a fifth epileptic, with attacks of violent 
 mania ; and a sixth were the subjects of recurrent mania, which 
 developed and subsided, in some cases, two or three times during 
 the period of their detention as inebriates. It is, therefore, certain 
 that the large majority of inmates of this description were either 
 actually insane during their police-court history* or in a state 
 
 * Four previous convictions in a year must be proved against an 
 habitual drunkard before he or she can be committed to a re- 
 formatory for inebriates. In an appendix to the Report there is 
 given the prison history of two cases so dealt with. One of these 
 refers to a woman, now forty-one years of age, who, between 
 January 28, 1881, and December 9, 1905, made no fewer than 114 
 appearances before ? the magistrates, principally for drunkenness and 
 disorderly conduct. She ' qualified ' for a reformatory in June, 
 1881, when she was seventeen years of age, but was not actually 
 sent to one until charged for the ii5th time on December 29, 1905. 
 In the other case a woman of the same age was first convicted of 
 disorderly conduct in 1887, and was sent to a reformatory in 1905, 
 after 99 convictions,
 
 CONGENITAL CAUSES 57 
 
 bordering on insanity, and that mental disease was the condition 
 for which they were repeatedly imprisoned mental disease masked 
 by alcoholic indulgence. What the exact relationship is between 
 drunkenness and insanity in these cases is exceedingly difficult to 
 determine. Sentenced to reformatories as ' habitual drunkards,' 
 they were found (when admitted) to be actually lunatic, or on the 
 verge of insanity. 
 
 Prohibitionists will at once suggest that the insanity 
 was caused by drink, and they may assume that such 
 facts as these only support their own theories. It is 
 important, therefore, to see what Mr. Branthwaite has 
 to say on this point. He proceeds : 
 
 Ordinary experience indicates that the mental disease, in some 
 cases, may be due to tissue degeneration produced by persistent 
 alcoholism, to repeated alcoholic epileptiform convulsions, and re- 
 current attacks of delirium tremens, or to shock to the nervous 
 system arising from the sudden discontinuance of alcohol which 
 accompanies every prison sentence. But, notwithstanding this, I 
 am satisfied that the majority of our insane inebriates have become 
 alcoholic because of congenital defect or tendency to insanity, not 
 insane as the result of alcoholism, and that the drunkenness which 
 preceded alcoholic insanity was merely the herald the obvious 
 sign of incipient mental disorder. In relation to the final insanity, 
 drunkenness in such cases is the intensifier, perhaps, but not the 
 cause, of the disease. 
 
 In the official statistics of insanity the persons here 
 referred to would doubtless be described as insane 
 owing to ' drink,' and they would be pointed to by 
 prohibitionist speakers as melancholy victims of the 
 publican. But in these cases, at least, we see that 
 drunkenness was a symptom, rather than a cause, of 
 their insanity, and the same condition would probably 
 apply to many other inmates of lunatic asylums whose 
 insanity is attributed to ' drink,' though they may not 
 have passed through a home for inebriates. Apart, 
 therefore, from the fact that there is often a good deal 
 of exaggeration in prohibitionist references to insanity, 
 one finds that, even where the figures themselves may 
 be correctly given, the proportion of cases said to be
 
 58 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 due to 'drink' must be subjected to considerable 
 modification from the point of view advanced by Mr. 
 Branthwaite. 
 
 Classes (2) and (3) are considered by the inspector 
 together, the characteristics of both being the same, 
 except in degree. In the term ' defective,' he says, he 
 includes every person admitted to reformatories who is 
 found to be 'below an average standard of mental 
 capacity, but insufficiently so to justify a certificate of 
 insanity, or only now and then certifiably insane during 
 short, transient paroxysms.' On this point the inspector 
 asserts that 'mental incompetence, stopping short of 
 insanity, holds a prominent position in the causation of 
 habitual drunkenness, and that complete irresponsibility 
 for drunkenness may result therefrom.' He continues: 
 
 Certain peculiarities in cranial conformation, general physique, 
 and conduct, have long been recognized as evidences of congenital 
 defect. Nearly all the 1,128 cases included in the defective sec- 
 tions of our table have given evidence of possessing some of these 
 characteristic peculiarities, and it is morally certain that the large 
 majority of them started life handicapped by weakness. 
 
 Perhaps the most conclusive evidence of congenital defect from 
 a scientific point of view is the presence of certain physical signs 
 of arrested or distorted development. Many instances of stunted 
 growth can be found amongst our inebriates abnormally small 
 heads, misshapen heads, and case after case of developmental 
 arrest or irregularity in upper and lower jaw. There are plenty of 
 examples of the thin-faced congenital, with high cheek-bones, 
 deeply placed eyes, projecting ears, and shifty, haunted expression ; 
 but more common in women is the heavy, repulsive, masculine 
 type, with a tendency to violence and brutality, beady eyes, square 
 jaws, and dull, flabby, expressionless face. Features are often 
 asymmetrical, nose misplaced, eyes irregular, and some abnormali- 
 ties in palate and in dental formation have also been noted. In 
 short, the same physical abnormalities are to be found in defective 
 inebriates as are present amongst idiots and imbeciles, only in less 
 degree, because the defect is less severe. 
 
 Mr. Branthwaite professes himself more anxious to 
 establish the existence than the cause of mental defect 
 in the classes in question, and he describes in detail the
 
 MENTALLY DEFECTIVES 59 
 
 behaviour, under detention, of (i) the persistently 
 refractory, and (2) those who are dull, listless, and 
 more or less passively amenable. 
 
 Of the former of these types we are told that they 
 are always restless, uncertain, excitable, and ready to 
 take umbrage on the least provocation, or on flimsy 
 pretexts which would not be considered provocation by 
 reasonable beings. They care nothing for the opinions 
 of others in matters relating to conduct ; they are 
 always full of grievances, usually show no signs of 
 sorrow, consider that everything they have done is 
 justifiable, while, 'deficient in moral sense, they cannot 
 be made to understand the ethics of social life, and 
 an unfriendly attitude is manifested towards all who 
 endeavour to exercise refining influences.' 
 
 This is as the refractory defectives are in their quieter 
 moments. But they are liable to recurrent outbursts 
 of uncontrollable anger, and of these the inspector says: 
 
 The mad fit, while it lasts, is not pleasant to witness utter 
 abandonment to passion, wanton destruction of anything handy, 
 unmeasured violence against all who happen to be near (especially 
 if they attempt to restrain), absence of all sense of decency, and 
 use of the vilest possible language, are some of the chief character- 
 istics. A large number of persons now under control in reforma- 
 tories, subject to these passionate, impulsive attacks, only need the 
 possession of a lethal weapon at such times to cause injury, even 
 death, to any person against whom the anger is directed. ... All 
 these refractory persons, although sent to reformatories as ine- 
 briates, are mentally unsound first and inebriate afterwards. The 
 physical demand for something to moderate restlessness and 
 excitability, or cause temporary oblivion during the early stages of 
 an attack of mad passion, accounts for their resort to alcohol ; or 
 during an attack, the same ungovernable impulse which prompts 
 them to the committal of other unreasonable actions prompts them 
 to drink madly, regardless of result. 
 
 When, under these last-mentioned conditions, a 
 person commits acts of violence, or is even guilty of 
 murder, the case would inevitably be attributed to ' the
 
 60 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 drink ' rather than to the incipient madness, though the 
 latter, as we see, is ever ready to show itself even in the 
 reformatory, where no drink is obtainable, and where 
 homicide may only be prevented by the absence, as 
 mentioned above, of a lethal weapon. 
 
 Of the second, or ' dull,' type of defectives, we learn 
 that suspicion and delusions of persecution are as 
 common among them as among the violent, only the 
 reiteration of wrongs by the quiet defective leads to 
 tears, depression, and despair, not to excitement. 
 
 Intelligence, generally, in these cases is of an extremely low 
 order ; no power of thought or deliberation, no memory, wandering 
 attention, and vacant expression, are obvious in all. . . . The 
 mental vacuity which is met with in defective inebriates only varies 
 in degree from the more conspicuous inattentiveness of idiots and 
 imbeciles. 
 
 Whether refractory or quiet, the defectives seem to 
 be peculiarly susceptible to the action of alcohol, very 
 small quantities of drink no more than is taken daily 
 without apparent physiological effect by an ordinary 
 individual being sufficient to cause disorderly and 
 violent behaviour in the defectives. ' Our experience 
 in this direction,' says Mr. Branthwaite, * has led us to 
 accept the view that intolerance to the exciting effect 
 of small quantities of alcohol may be considered a 
 fairly certain sign of impaired mental equilibrium.' 
 
 In concluding his description of the character and 
 conduct of the defectives, the inspector maintains that 
 the existence of defect must be considered as placed 
 beyond the possibility of doubt, and he further suggests 
 that ' the defect in question was probably present before 
 the drunkenness in the majority of cases, and virtually 
 caused it,' as indicated by the previous lives of those 
 defective inmates concerning whom reliable information 
 has been obtained. He continues :
 
 MORALLY DEFICIENTS 61 
 
 The record of a refractory defective generally includes a story 
 of uncontrollable temper during childhood, restless, irritable, and 
 eccentric behaviour at puberty, and dangerous conduct during late 
 life. In regard to the quiet cases there is usually ample evidence 
 of backward or uneducable youth, unemployable or inefficient adult 
 life, and possession of a brain unequal to the acquirement of know- 
 ledge throughout all stages of existence. In both cases no power 
 of thought, impaired judgment, and lack of control over impulses, 
 all the way from birth to reformatories. 
 
 Yet, I may point out, when these mentally defectives 
 and morally deficients do go astray, as the result of 
 taking an amount of liquor which would not affect an 
 ordinary individual at all, it is once more the publican 
 who has to bear the responsibility, and who, according 
 to the denunciations of the prohibitionists, is alone to 
 blame. Mr. Branthwaite's view is that ' in such cases 
 drunkenness, and all the offences resulting therefrom, 
 are merely the natural result of inability to sensibly 
 direct and control thoughts, wishes, and actions.' But of 
 this the prohibitionists take no account. The publican, 
 they affirm, places ' temptation ' in the way of the 
 defectives, and, because such defectives cannot resist, 
 and are so easily overcome, therefore the publican 
 should be abolished. 
 
 The Report continues in reference to the type of 
 person here dealt with : 
 
 The only possibility of an orderly life for such a person is total 
 abstinence from liquor, a fact they have not the power to grasp, 
 or, if they do grasp it, there are so many moments in their lives 
 when insane impulse takes the place of thought and deliberation 
 that it is hopeless to expect improvement in conduct unless preceded 
 by improvement in mental condition. When morbid impulse is 
 uppermost the fear of consequence is non-existent, and the memory 
 of past experience, which aids a strong man to resist temptation, 
 is absent ; the impulse to drink, cause wilful damage, or assault 
 another, comes suddenly, and is acted upon, with whatever conse- 
 quence chance and circumstance may direct. As time passes con- 
 tinued indulgence produces further mental deterioration. Structural 
 tissue change and constantly disordered function both aid in com- 
 pleting the wreck ; passions run riot uncurbed, moral degradation, 
 restlessness, and excitement become the order of the day, and we
 
 62 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 have the finished article the insane or defective police-court 
 inebriate. 
 
 That persons of this type should become total 
 abstainers is a view which will be accepted by every 
 one, publicans included the last-mentioned because 
 individuals of the class described must rank among the 
 least desirable of their customers. No one, therefore, 
 would in the least object if the anti-alcohol party would 
 bring the full pressure of their influence to bear on the 
 defectives, with a view to converting them to total 
 abstinence ; but because they cannot do this, or because 
 the case of the defectives is apparently hopeless, it does 
 not necessarily follow that restraint should be put on 
 persons who are in no way prejudiced by the moderate 
 amount of liquor they take. 
 
 We come next to the fourth group of inebriate 
 reformatory inmates those, namely, of average mental 
 capacity, who constitute 37*3 per cent, of the whole. 
 These are 'just habitual inebriates, quiet when sober, 
 amenable to treatment, and without obvious mental 
 complication.' But Mr. Branthwaite thinks that, 
 although there is every reason to believe transmitted 
 weakness is largely responsible for their lapse into 
 habitual drunkenness, it is probable that even in the 
 case of these apparently sober-minded persons a large 
 number of them have gradually drifted into their 
 condition through carelessness or persistent wilful 
 indulgence. In some cases the start in bad habits is 
 due to early environment. But there are other causes 
 besides, and notably ill-health, accident, and old age. 
 
 Mr. Branthwaite thinks it is hardly realized how 
 potent ordinary disease and ill-health are in the making 
 of inebriates. 
 
 Predisposition, in the shape of hereditary defect, may be present, 
 and undoubtedly is present, in many persons who, nevertheless,
 
 DISEASE AND INEBRIETY 63 
 
 manage to live sober lives. Although sometimes it necessitates 
 a lifelong fight against inclination, their resisting power enables 
 them to keep clear of that which would otherwise be their ruin. 
 But when disease or ill-health impairs vitality this resisting power 
 is lessened, and predisposition assumes unchecked sway. Many 
 cases have been committed to reformatories whose downfall has 
 been directly attributed to such a train of circumstances, and many 
 more where there is reasonable cause for assuming a similar 
 diagnosis. 
 
 In support of this view the inspector mentions a 
 number of instances where the alcoholic habit had 
 immediately followed on the breakdown of health or 
 the advent of such diseases as cancer or phthisis, while 
 in the case of women the most common cause of 
 habitual inebriety is to be found in the functional 
 disorders and special ailments to which their sex is 
 liable. 
 
 The temporary relief to pain and distress which is afforded by 
 alcohol has a fatal attraction. The increasing doses which are 
 necessary to give comparative ease when the smaller doses fail, 
 and the increasing frequency with which it needs to be taken to 
 maintain the desired effect, soon form a habit which cannot be 
 broken off unless, and until, the irregularity which caused the 
 condition has been corrected. 
 
 There would seem to be some difficulty in demon- 
 strating the connection between habitual drunkenness 
 and impaired control following injury, because the 
 effect does not always follow closely on the cause. But 
 Mr. Branthwaite mentions two cases which sufficiently 
 establish his point. In one, a cab-driver, previously 
 steady and hard-working, sustained a fracture of the 
 skull as the result of an accident. Taken to a hospital, 
 he remained there two months, and then left, apparently 
 cured. He returned to work, but, finding himself unfit 
 for sustained energy, he became drunken in his habits, 
 and, after being subjected to some years of short- 
 sentence prison treatment, was sent to a reformatory 
 for inebriates. Very shortly after his admission he had
 
 64 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 a severe convulsion, and is now a confirmed epileptic ; 
 but his drunken habits and his epilepsy, says the 
 inspector, were both obviously due to the accident. 
 In the other case, a previously steady and plodding 
 woman took to drunkenness after being kicked on the 
 head by a horse. 
 
 In regard to the effect of old age on sobriety, Mr. 
 Branthwaite points to the considerable number of 
 inmates of inebriate reformatories who are of advanced 
 years, and says : 
 
 There is every reason to believe that nearly 65 per cent, have, 
 in their earlier days, lived decent, useful lives, and that their 
 drunkenness of later years has been due to naturally reduced 
 vitality, with its accompanying defect in power of control. The 
 sequence of events is the same in most old-age cases : loss of work 
 from incapacity due to approaching age, consequent idleness, 
 poverty, friendlessness, impaired power of control, drunkenness. 
 The history is one which might well be as common among the 
 higher as among the lower classes of society, and would certainly 
 be so but for the fact that, in the former, there is usually some 
 interested relative in a position to assume guidance during the 
 later years of life ; in the latter there is neither relative able to 
 assume control nor money to provide higher supervision. These 
 poor old dements have all been subjected to an average of between 
 six and seven years' treatment before being sent to reformatories. 
 
 Mr. Branthwaite considers that the facts adduced by 
 him are sufficient to show that at least 62 or 63 per 
 cent, of the so-called habitual drunkards sent to re- 
 formatories are to be considered as a variety of a larger 
 complex body of insane and mentally defective persons, 
 and that the balance show a condition far from normal. 
 ' Whether mentally defective or not, when drunkenness 
 is confirmed, the objectionable habits of these persons 
 are in no sense due to an effort of will, to a determina- 
 tion to get drink after sane deliberation, but really to 
 an absence of power to exercise judgment at all, or to 
 the dictates of a warped judgment.' Oft -repeated 
 prison detention is, he argues, not only powerless to
 
 IMPRISONMENT FOR THE INSANE 65 
 
 reform such persons, but, after the first few occasions, 
 renders their condition worse than before. ' It is hardly 
 pleasant to realize,' he justly observes, 'that our insane 
 inmates, forty-eight of them, have been punished for 
 years as sane criminals, being thrown into prison with 
 monotonous regularity simply because their ravings 
 were intensified by drink, or mistaken for drunken dis- 
 order. Nor can we view with greater equanimity the 
 fact that 271 people, who are definitely imbecile or 
 epileptic, have met with similar treatment, merely 
 because drunkenness happened to be the most promi- 
 nent symptom, and because the exact condition was 
 so masked by inebriate habits as to be impossible of 
 diagnosis by non-medical administrators of justice.' 
 
 The special purpose which the inspector has in view 
 in entering into all these details is to suggest an im- 
 proved method of treatment of habitual drunkards, and 
 his chief recommendation is that they should be sent 
 at an earlier stage to the reformatories for inebriates, 
 instead of being first subjected to repeated imprison- 
 ments, and not committed to a reformatory until they 
 have lapsed into a condition of almost complete hope- 
 lessness. With this suggestion one must certainly 
 sympathize ; but my own particular concern here is 
 with the question of original causes. In this respect 
 the conclusion one must draw from Mr. Branthwaite's 
 Report is that habitual drunkenness is primarily due, 
 not, as the prohibitionists would allege, to the ' tempta- 
 tions ' held out by the publicans, but to the fact that 
 the victims belong to the class either of the mentally 
 unsound or of the feeble-minded. If this be true, 
 practically without exception (for none is suggested in 
 the Report), of the 1,873 persons who have been received 
 into the reformatories for inebriates, like conditions 
 must apply, more or less, first, to the habitual drunkards, 
 
 5
 
 66 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 who have not yet been committed to those institutes, 
 and, secondly, to a considerable proportion of ordinary 
 drunkards who may not yet have fully qualified for the 
 designated ' habitual.' 
 
 On this conclusion follows another : that there has 
 been much misconception in the past in regard to the 
 relations between alcohol, insanity, crime, and even 
 habitual drunkenness itself. Drunkenness may have 
 been an incident in a particular case, or a symptom in 
 disease, but it may also be none the less true that 
 drunkenness would not have occurred had the persons 
 concerned been of normal temperament and wholly 
 responsible for their actions. ' Drink ' has often got 
 the discredit when the real causes should have been 
 sought for in a wholly different direction. While, 
 again, society has treated imbeciles and epileptics, 
 defectives and feeble-minded, as ordinary criminals or 
 offenders, temperance advocates, following in society's 
 footsteps, have never wearied of pointing to the official 
 statistics of ' drunkenness,' and the offences or the cases 
 of lunacy attributed thereto, in support of their denuncia- 
 tion of alcoholic drinks, and have ever been ready to 
 describe these unfortunates as ' victims ' of the trade 
 they would fain see abolished. 
 
 That the demands for this abolition, based on the 
 grounds here indicated, are altogether illogical, must 
 be obvious to every unprejudiced person. It is a 
 national misfortune that there should be drunkards, 
 habitual or otherwise. It is no less unfortunate that 
 there should be imbeciles, epileptics, and weak-minded 
 individuals, who, apparently, constitute so substantial a 
 proportion of the drunkard class. But because such 
 persons as these exist, it does not follow that the oppor- 
 tunity of obtaining reasonable refreshment should be 
 denied to the entire community, or sections thereof,
 
 THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNFIT 67 
 
 without regard to the desires or convenience of the far 
 larger proportion of individuals who do not belong to 
 the said class, and are perfectly well able to act with 
 reason and self-control. 
 
 The requirements of Organized Society cannot justly 
 be regulated by the deficiencies of its weakest members. 
 According to proverbial philosophy it is the fate of the 
 weakest to 'go to the wall.' The prohibitionists, on 
 the other hand, seek to bring the weakest to the front. 
 According to their ideas it is the weakly ones who are 
 to fix the standard of freedom and liberty for the strong 
 and healthy. Stimulating beverages, which the vast 
 majority can use with reason, must be given up, social 
 life must be remodelled, and revolutionary changes 
 effected in our economic conditions, mainly to promote 
 the survival of the unfit ! 
 
 Can so heroic a remedy be considered either neces- 
 sary or desirable ? Alike in nature and in uncivilized 
 society the weakest do go to the wall. The defectives 
 fall out, and the world is, in point of fact, all the better 
 for their disappearance. In a highly civilized state of 
 society like our own we do what we can to preserve 
 defectives and inefficients. We look after imbeciles, 
 epileptics, consumptives, and others, in order, appa- 
 rently, not only that they shall survive, but also that 
 they shall propagate their race. We put up palaces 
 for paupers, and provide farms for unemployed and un- 
 employable, while the hard-working ratepayer who bears 
 the cost may scarcely be able to make both ends meet. 
 We are now asked to place all sorts of restraint on the 
 sale of popular beverages because there is among us a 
 certain proportion of persons who, by reason of weak 
 brains or of weak bodies, either drink to excess or 
 cannot take even a small amount of alcohol without 
 doing harm to themselves or to others. 
 
 5-2
 
 68 MORAL OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS 
 
 Sir Lauder Brunton has expressed the view that 
 ' individuals in whom the hereditary craving for drink 
 exists, or in whom the hereditary tendency to insanity 
 renders the development of such a craving probable, 
 ought to become total abstainers.' With that opinion 
 everybody must thoroughly concur. The question is, 
 rather, whether other individuals in whom such 
 hereditary craving or tendency does not exist should be 
 forced by law to regard themselves under a like 
 obligation. 
 
 The policy of preserving civilization's defectives 
 under various categories constitutes a very wide subject, 
 which I need not stay to discuss; but one may well 
 ask whether the survival of the unfit should be carried 
 so far as to impose an injustice on the fit. Personally, 
 and as an academic question, I do not think it should ; 
 but, coming to concrete facts, the excellent and most 
 valuable Report by Mr. Branthwaite shows beyond dis- 
 pute (i) that the average drunkard is an abnormal 
 person, who requires special treatment from a psycho- 
 logical, a neurotic, or (in regard to provision for the 
 aged) a social standpoint ; and (2) that he or she cannot 
 be cured or restrained in the public interests merely by 
 changes in the) licensing laws, or even by carrying out 
 the extreme views of the prohibitionists. That society 
 has hitherto made some very gross, if not absolutely 
 inhuman, blunders in its treatment of drunkards is 
 obvious enough to those who read the Report in question. 
 But the Legislature will do a greater wrong still if, in 
 its sympathy with the drunken, it should ignore the 
 good advice tendered by the Inebriates Acts inspector, 
 and needlessly interfere instead with the rights, liberties, 
 and rational enjoyment of the sober.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 ASSUMING that the reader may be prepared even for 
 the sake of argument to accept my view that the evils 
 of excessive indulgence in alcoholic beverages, however 
 great and deplorable they may be in the case of certain 
 types (and especially abnormal types) of individuals, 
 have, nevertheless, been much exaggerated and also 
 much misunderstood in the past, it is desirable to see 
 in what light the taking of those beverages in modera- 
 tion by the average healthy person is regarded by men 
 of science. There is, certainly, a great diversity of 
 opinion among the doctors on this question, and in 
 the earlier days of the anti-alcoholic movement the 
 testimony of those of them who sympathized with the 
 prohibitionists was put before the public much more 
 prominently than that of doctors opposed thereto. 
 Even to-day there are in England at least two distinct 
 schools, one of which, comprising doctors who favour 
 the campaign against alcohol, is ready enough to 
 support (no doubt quite sincerely) what is now a 
 popular cry ; while those who do not favour the 
 campaign, as carried on by extremists, are mostly 
 reluctant to declare themselves openly in favour of 
 moderate drinking, lest they may offend some of their 
 temperance patrons, and thus suffer from a professional 
 
 69
 
 70 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 standpoint. In effect, therefore, the opinions of medical 
 men, put forward with so much conviction by the 
 campaign leaders, do not necessarily express the convic- 
 tions of the medical world at large. 
 
 To show that testimony in favour of a moderate use 
 of alcoholic beverages has been offered by medical 
 authorities quite equal in experience and position to 
 those who are quoted by the prohibitionist party, I give 
 a few representative opinions, and I begin with some 
 from Germany, where, apparently, owing to the lesser 
 popularity of the total abstinence cry, medical men are 
 not so much afraid of expressing themselves frankly as 
 would seem to be the case with many of our English 
 doctors. 
 
 Dr. Ernest Zunker, Privy Councillor and Physician 
 in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Kaiserin, has stated in 
 the Medizinische Volksblcitter, a popular medical journal 
 published in Germany : 
 
 I am of opinion that whatever is good and legitimate in the 
 present-day movement in favour of moderation will be only dis- 
 credited by extreme demands for complete abstinence from all 
 stimulants. A great wrong will be done to people by seeking to 
 deprive them of the beverages to which they have been accustomed, 
 or even of the enjoyment they have had in their consumption, for 
 I believe that the effect, more especially, which such beverages have 
 upon the mind is, in itself, of considerable practical importance. 
 
 As regards beer, that lightest and least harmful of all alcoholic 
 drinks, one may regard it as certain that, consumed in large 
 quantities, it injures more by reason of the amount of liquid taken 
 into the system than because of the alcohol it contains. . . . No 
 rules can be laid down as to the amount of stimulants that should 
 be taken. The limit one ought not to exceed depends on the 
 proportion of alcohol contained in the beverages ; on conditions 
 affecting the individuals concerned, such as climate, age, tempera- 
 ment, bodily health, employment ; and on mental disposition. There 
 are some men whom a single glass of strong ale would intoxicate ; 
 there are others who would drink many glasses of the same liquor 
 without showing the least sign of inebriety. 
 
 In a statement of his views, published in the German
 
 GERMAN VIEWS 71 
 
 illustrated journal Das Leben, Professor Dr. Alfred 
 Goldscheider, Privy Councillor, of Berlin, said : 
 
 The question whether the demand for extreme total abstinence 
 is justifiable or not seems to me to be extraordinarily complicated, 
 inasmuch as it is not, and cannot be, a purely medical one, so 
 many other considerations psychological, social, ethical, and so 
 on being mixed up with it. 
 
 As physician I must naturally take up the position that the only 
 natural and reasonable treatment to prescribe for the wearied and 
 over-wearied body is the completest possible rest. Here one has 
 the ideal remedy. As psychologist and sociologist I must freely 
 admit that all conditions which are based on human vitality must 
 also reckon with human weakness, and that even although most 
 of the beverages taken confer on us either little direct physical 
 advantage or none at all, they may, nevertheless, be of the greater 
 benefit to us from a psychological standpoint, by reason of their 
 stimulating effect, or in producing even a temporary recovery, 
 especially at a time when the rest treatment is not practicable. 
 Stimulants serve to heighten the spirits of the individual by offering 
 a valuable counterpoise to depression. They are calculated, by 
 improving the state of mind, to make a man more enterprising 
 and to reconcile him better to work he had begun to look upon as 
 drudgery. Taking all these things into account, and notwith- 
 standing the many reflections to which the subject of alcohol gives 
 rise in the mind of a physician, I am bound to say that I cannot 
 regard the extreme total abstinence movement as justifiable, or 
 as necessary to the due maintenance of the health of the people. 
 Certainly I believe that alcohol, even in very small quantities, has 
 a narcotic effect ; but this may operate most beneficially on the 
 physical system by dispelling a sense of depression, and it is really 
 this narcotic effect that inclines so many individuals to seek forget- 
 fulness in their glass. 
 
 Professor Dr. Ewald, Privy Councillor, and one of 
 the leading medical authorities in Berlin, has also stated 
 in the same paper : 
 
 Stimulants represent an undeniable need on the part of human 
 nature and for the support of the human system, being almost as 
 important, from the point of view of their influence on the nutritive 
 processes, as the food itself. This fact is shown, not only by the 
 example of individual peoples who, throughout the entire universe, 
 and representing all stages of civilization, have known how to pro- 
 duce, and have themselves made use of, stimulants (fermented 
 beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, cocoa, etc.), but also by physiological 
 research, which shows that nutriment without stimulant is insuffi-
 
 72 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 cient. . . . For the greater majority of mankind a moderate con- 
 sumption of stimulants is not only allowable, but indispensable, 
 more particularly where special demands are made on the physical 
 or mental powers of the individual conditions which are to be 
 found to-day in every condition of life all the world over. 
 
 Professor H. R. Saltet, of the Amsterdam University, 
 in an interview with the correspondent of the Deutsche 
 Wochenschrift in den Nederlanden, adduced various 
 statistics to show that, while the consumption of beer 
 had increased in Holland of late years, the total con- 
 sumption of alcohol had declined. He proceeded : 
 
 The comparatively small amount of alcohol contained in beer 
 relaxes the nerves of the man tired from physical or mental labour. 
 It diverts his thought in another direction, and relieves the pres- 
 sure of his daily cares, without doing harm to his internal organs. 
 In a word, the healthy man gains fresh vigour from a few glasses 
 of beer. The great thing is that a man should be moderate, and 
 show due regard to individual temperament. A blacksmith, for 
 example, can generally take more than a tailor. 
 
 In 1904 the editor of the Deutsche Wein-Zeitung 
 addressed a circular letter to ninety-three of the 
 leading medical authorities in that country and in 
 Austria, begging from them an expression of their views 
 on the subject of total abstinence, and especially as to 
 whether or not stimulants were beneficial to health. 
 Of eighty-nine answers received, nearly all were in the 
 affirmative. Here are some examples of the views 
 expressed : 
 
 Professor Dr. Ribbert, Director of the Pathological 
 Institute, Gottingen : 
 
 It is true that even small quantities of alcohol may do harm. 
 To whom ? Why, to the person who has defective digestion, a weak 
 heart, who is irritable or excitable. Among the abstainers there 
 are many who avoid alcohol for some such reasons. But it is 
 unreasonable to forbid alcohol to those to whom it does no harm. 
 
 Professor Tuczek, Director of the Hospital for Mental 
 and Nervous Diseases, Marburg :
 
 FURTHER GERMAN VIEWS 73 
 
 Against the moderate use of stimulants especially fermented 
 beverages, and those containing little alcohol by healthy adults 
 there is nothing to be said from the point of view of health. I hold 
 that any general, complete, and unqualified abstinence from stimu- 
 lants is not supported either by experience or by laboratory 
 research, and, in respect to the real cause of sobriety, is an ex- 
 aggeration. 
 
 Professor Dr. Falkenheim, Konigsberg : 
 
 I regard the consumption of small quantities of alcohol as indis- 
 pensable for adults of normal temperament. 
 
 Dr. E. Storch, Imperial Hospital for Nervous 
 Diseases, Berlin : 
 
 I hold that a man in good physical and mental condition can 
 take alcoholic beverages of good quality and in moderation without 
 fear of injury to his health. The extreme anti-alcohol tendency 
 must be counted among the exaggerations that need not be re- 
 garded seriously. 
 
 Professor Shrotter, Vienna : 
 
 Up to my thirty-second year I had not taken either wine or beer. 
 Not until I made a journey through Lapland did I indulge in a 
 moderate use of alcohol ; but, as the result alike of my personal 
 experience and of my forty-three years' experience as a medical 
 man, I am convinced that a moderate use of alcohol is not in- 
 jurious. 
 
 Professor Dr. Hauser, Obermedizinalrath, Karls- 
 ruhe: 
 
 I consider that total abstinence is unnecessary, impossible, and 
 in certain circumstances even detrimental, while it is prejudicing 
 the undoubtedly justifiable and timely movement in favour of 
 moderation. 
 
 Professor Dr. Schmidt, Privy Councillor, Marburg : 
 
 A moderate use of alcohol in the form of wine or beer is unques- 
 tionably beneficial from a health point of view. 
 
 Professor Dr. von Grutzner, Tubingen : 
 
 It has not been proved, and it is not even probable, that a 
 moderate consumption of alcoholic drinks will bring any harm to 
 an adult healthy person.
 
 74 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 Among British authorities Dr. Richard Quain, one of 
 the greatest physicians of the Victorian era, once wrote : 
 
 Dr. Brinton, who is by no means unreasonably prejudiced in 
 favour of alcohol, has given it as the result of his very large expe- 
 rience that persons who abstain altogether from alcohol break 
 down, almost invariably, after a certain number of years, if they 
 are constantly employed in any severe intellectual or physical 
 labour. Either their minds or their bodies give way suddenly, and 
 the mischief, once done, is very hard to repair. This is quite in 
 accordance with what I have myself observed, and with what I can 
 gather from other medical men ; and it speaks volumes concerning 
 the way in which we ought to regard alcohol. If, indeed, it be a 
 fact that in a certain high state of civilization men require to take 
 alcohol every day in some shape or other, under penalty of break- 
 ing down prematurely in their work, it is idle to appeal to a set of 
 imperfect chemical or physiological experiments, and to decide on 
 their evidence that we ought to call alcohol a medicine or a poison, 
 but not a food. 
 
 On the part of alcohol, I venture to claim that, though we all 
 acknowledge it to be a poison, if taken during health in immoderate 
 quantities, it is also a most valuable medicine-food. I am obliged 
 to declare that the chemical evidence is as yet insufficient to give 
 any complete explanation of its exact manner of action upon the 
 system, but that the practical facts are as striking as they could 
 well be, and that there can be no mistake about them. And I have 
 thought it proper that, while highly-coloured statements of the 
 results of the new French researches are being somewhat disin- 
 genuously placed before the lay public, there should not be a total 
 silence on the part of those members of the profession who do not 
 see themselves called upon to yield to the mere force of agitation, 
 and become the obsequious mouthpieces of the teetotal party. 
 
 Sir James Paget, F.R.C.S., F.R.S. : 
 
 As for the opinion of the medical profession, they are, by a vast 
 majority, in favour of moderation. My study makes me as sure as 
 I would ever venture to be on any such question that there is 
 not yet any evidence nearly sufficient to make it probable that a 
 moderate habitual use of alcoholic drinks is generally, or even to 
 many persons, injurious, and that there are sufficient reasons for 
 believing that such an habitual use is on the whole and generally 
 beneficial. 
 
 Sir William Gull, M.D., F.R.S. : 
 
 For men working hard beer is a good form of food, to be recom- 
 mended as a light feeding material.
 
 BRITISH AUTHORITIES 75 
 
 Sir T. Lauder Brunton, F.R.S. : 
 Alcohol is a true food. 
 Dr. R. Brundenell Carter, F.R.C.S. : 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that the advocates of total abstinence 
 are mistaken. I affirm, alike from my own experience and from 
 that of others, that there are some to whom it is a necessity if they 
 are to exert the full measure of their power. 
 
 Dr. Alfred B. Garrod, F.R.S. : 
 
 The majority of adults can take a moderate quantity of alcohol 
 in some form or other, not only with impunity, but often with ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 Sir Dyce Duckworth, M.D. : 
 
 I believe the use of alcohol to be beneficial to humanity. In 
 strict moderation I see nothing harmful, but, on the contrary, much 
 that is beneficial, in the use of alcoholics in the present stage of our 
 civilization. 
 
 Sir James Crichton Browne, writing in the Birming- 
 ham Daily Gazette of May 29, 1906, said : 
 
 No other drug can satisfactorily take the place of alcohol, and 
 the doctor who has laid it aside has in some measure crippled 
 himself in his combat with disease. Mankind has come to know 
 that alcohol does very often whet a failing appetite, spur on a 
 dilatory stomach, sustain a flagging heart, check wasting of the 
 body, invoke sleep, numb acute pain, and restore a sense of well- 
 being when that has been lost ; but mankind will go on resorting 
 to it when distressed in these ways, in spite of all warnings as to 
 its insidious propensities, and in spite of medical prohibition. 
 
 A medical man's first object is to cure his patient in the simplest, 
 safest, and quickest way. And jn doing that a great majority of 
 medical men believe that alcohol may from time to time be helpful 
 to them. They are not to be intimidated from handling it by the 
 shrieks of those whose eyes are fixed on the horrors wrought by 
 alcohol let loose from medical control, or by unworthy suspicions 
 of connivance with vicious tendencies. 
 
 But aid is needed in a vast number of cases that are incurable, 
 and in these, too, a great majority of medical men believe that 
 alcohol may be helpful. It may assuage suffering, make life more 
 endurable, and smooth the rough passages out of it, and under such 
 circumstances it would, it seems to me, be positively cruel to with- 
 hold it because of pious aspirations, or in accordance with any hard- 
 and-fast rule.
 
 76 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 Dr. Thomas Button, in the Archives of the Roentgen 
 Ray, a publication through the columns of which 
 medical men communicate with medical men, has 
 written in regard to certain doctors who have expressed 
 strong views against the use of alcohol : 
 
 The overweening arrogance of those writers would lead one to 
 imagine that the entire store of human virtue and knowledge was 
 their inheritance alone, and that the remainder of the medical pro- 
 fession were lacking either in common or in moral sense. I will 
 venture to assert that fully 80 per cent, of the profession at large 
 do themselves partake of alcoholic stimulants in some form or 
 other, and order it for their patients. 
 
 Dr. Josiah Oldfield, head of the Lady Margaret 
 Hospital, Bromley, in an interview with a correspondent 
 of the Daily Mail, reported in that journal on August 27, 
 1906, said: 
 
 Whether considered as an article of food or as a remedial agent, 
 I cannot join in a wholesale condemnation of alcohol. When dis- 
 creetly used it is most useful. I believe that there is less intelli- 
 gent comprehension of the value of alcohol than of almost any 
 other remedial agent to which scientific attention has been given. 
 We English owe much to our cereals. The early Britons strength- 
 ened themselves on ' frumenty,' a kind of gruel or porridge made 
 of wheat ; the Scottish have grown great on oatmeal porridge and 
 oatcake ; and the elements in these cereals present in malt liquor 
 have contributed to the virility of the British race. That is not to 
 endorse indiscriminate and gluttonous drinking, but the wise use of 
 the fruits of the earth. Indeed, I know of no body of men so sadly 
 in need of education upon the subject on which they dogmatize as 
 the temperance advocates. . . . Good, wholesome, well-brewed 
 beer and wine especially Tokay can be used. to advantage by 
 young and old alike. 
 
 Mr. G. A. Archdall Reid, M.B., F.R.S.E., in the 
 course of an article contributed by him to the Daily 
 Chronicle of November n, 1905, under the title 
 ' Nature's Method,' said: 
 
 Nature, in a form hardly suspected, is against the temperance 
 reformer. Men differ naturally in their powers of resisting this or 
 that disease, as they do in all other respects in height, in strength, 
 in vigour, and so forth. Thus, in a country where measles is
 
 FURTHER BRITISH AUTHORITIES 77 
 
 prevalent, the weak in relation to it are weeded out, and the race is 
 left to the strong. . . . Each disease weeds out the weak, the 
 unfit, in relation to itself. It acts as a kind of breeder, who 
 permits, as a general rule, only a certain type of individual to have 
 offspring, or, at least, to have a full quota of offspring. It is what 
 biologists term a ' selecting ' agency. 
 
 Exactly the same is true of alcohol. ... To anyone who has 
 eyes for the world around him, it is obvious that men differ as 
 greatly in their ' susceptibility to the charm of alcohol ' as they 
 differ from their susceptibility to disease. A given experience of 
 alcohol awakens in some men an ardent desire for deep indul- 
 gence ; in others it awakens only a weak desire for moderate 
 indulgence ; in others it awakens no desire at all. 
 
 It is popularly believed that parental disease or intemperance 
 tends to render offspring, and, as a consequence, the race, 
 degenerate. ... If the popular belief be true, it is clear that 
 a race of men much afflicted during many generations by disease 
 and intemperance will grow increasingly degenerate, until at last it 
 becomes extinct. On the other hand, if the belief be erroneous, if 
 offspring are not, as a rule, affected by parental ill-conditions, an 
 opposite effect will be produced, and the weeding out of the unfit 
 will render the race, not degenerate, but increasingly resistant. 
 Both effects cannot, of course, be produced together, for a race 
 cannot undergo improvement and degeneration at one and the 
 same time. 
 
 We can easily test these opposing doctrines by noting what has 
 happened to various races of men. 
 
 Mr. Reid gives a series of illustrations, showing that 
 every race exposed to certain diseases or conditions 
 malaria, consumption, extreme heat or extreme cold is 
 resistant to them precisely in proportion to the duration 
 and severity of its past sufferings. The same argument, 
 he holds, applies to alcohol and opium. He proceeds : 
 
 Obviously, two methods of temperance reform are conceivable 
 the reformer's method, the elimination of drinking, and Nature's 
 method, the elimination of the drunkard. The reformer's method 
 has been tried by scores of Governments, on hundreds of occasions, 
 during thousands of years, and has never succeeded, except tem- 
 porarily amongst barbarous peoples. Amongst all modern peoples 
 dwelling under the ordinary conditions of civilized life, repressive 
 measures at any rate, severely repressive measures not only fail, 
 but worse than fail. Vast numbers of people combine to break 
 the law by all sorts of devices. Modern civilized society is so 
 complex, means of intercommunication are so perfect, the manu- 
 facture and sale of alcohol are so easy and profitable, the desire to
 
 78 
 
 TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS 
 
 obtain it so fierce, the freedom of the individual so great, that an 
 illegal traffic is organized at once, which swiftly grows beyond the 
 control of the authorities. Secret debauchery is substituted for 
 open drinking. The actual amount of drunkenness is increased. 
 The successful evasion of one law has for its concomitant a con- 
 tempt for all law, which in turn is followed by a long train of 
 attendant evils. If the society be at all highly organized, if the 
 population be dense, the means of communication good, and the 
 Government democratic, the law is soon repealed. 
 
 These statements are very sweeping, but there is ample evidence 
 to justify them. 
 
 Nature's method has invariably succeeded, but at the cost of 
 terrible sufferings. It will succeed in spite of all we can do. It 
 may be possible, however, to minimize the suffering by limiting 
 the output of children by drunken parents, as by spreading abroad 
 a knowledge of the danger of marrying into intemperate families. 
 This, however, is a question for the social reformer and the legis- 
 lator, not for the scientific man. 
 
 Then, as these pages are passing through the press, 
 there has been published in The Lancet of March 30, 
 1907, an important statement on ' The Use of Alcoholic 
 Beverages,' signed by fifteen medical authorities, and 
 representing, as they believe, ' the opinions of the lead- 
 ing clinical teachers as well as of the great majority of 
 medical practitioners.' The full text of this statement 
 which, The Lancet says, ' as an expression of scientific 
 opinion . . . deserves to be considered carefully by 
 medical practitioners ' will be found in the Appendix. 
 
 z^*~
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 NOT alone is it a fact that the consumption of alcoholic 
 drinks is of great antiquity; that it responds to a 
 deeply rooted and perfectly reasonable instinct in human 
 nature; and that, while it may, and does, prove pre- 
 judicial to certain individuals of a more or less abnormal 
 type, it is a source of benefit and of pleasure to others ; 
 but a further indisputable fact is that the sale of such 
 drinks has been directly sanctioned by the Legislature 
 from very early days, so that, although made the subject 
 of a great number of Acts of Parliament, for the 
 purposes of control, etc., it has hitherto been regarded 
 as constituting alike a legal and a perfectly justifiable, 
 if not also an altogether indispensable, trade. The 
 legislation in question may, at times, have been harsh, 
 unreasonable, or even unjust, towards those concerned 
 therein ; but it has, nevertheless, hitherto left untouched 
 the proposition here maintained : that the trade in 
 alcoholic beverages is, in itself, essentially a lawful trade. 
 The impression which a study of liquor and licensing 
 legislation in the past leaves on one's mind is that, when 
 such legislation has recognized the desire for stimulants 
 as natural and legitimate, and has simply sought to 
 enforce measures of efficient supervision and control 
 in the interests of public peace and order without 
 
 79
 
 8o LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 imposing unreasonable restrictions on facilities for pur- 
 chase, it has invariably been successful ; but that when 
 it has aimed at enforcing unreasonable restrictions, 
 together with compulsory abstinence and morality, 
 and has interfered unduly with that 'liberty of 
 the subject' which the majority of people in civilized 
 countries regard as their right, then the legislation has 
 invariably been a failure, and has increased rather than 
 reduced existing evils. 
 
 One finds the two sets of conditions hopelessly mixed 
 up during the four centuries over which legislative 
 experiments in regard to the sale of liquor have extended 
 in the United Kingdom, for there have been few fixed 
 principles in dealing with the question, and the said 
 experiments have ranged from undue restriction to 
 undue laxity, with an inconsistency that has probably 
 caused more harm than if nothing at all had been done. 
 In fact, some of the gravest results of the situation 
 have been directly and undeniably due to the good 
 intentions, but ill-advised policy, of our legislators them- 
 selves, and they have not always been fully counter- 
 balanced by the good results that may have followed in 
 other directions. 
 
 The earliest legislation concerning the manufacture 
 and sale of alcoholic beverages was passed at a time 
 when, as already shown, ale was regarded as an article 
 of diet of paramount importance to the community, and 
 it is interesting to find that in those days the efforts 
 alike of Governments and of local authorities were 
 directed mainly to ensuring the three great desiderata 
 of (i) adequate supply, (2) good quality, and (3) reason- 
 able price. Even to-day the wholesale trade is subject 
 only to the duties and regulations of the excise authori- 
 ties, the interference of the Legislature being restricted 
 to the sale and distribution of small quantities.
 
 STATE RECOGNITION 81 
 
 The lawfulness of this retail trade at one time free 
 to anyone who cared to embark in it was established 
 by the earliest licensing Statutes passed in this country, 
 though authority was, at the same time, given for a 
 reduction in the number of ale-houses, which even 
 then seem to have been regarded as unnecessarily 
 numerous. Thus the first licensing Statute of all, that 
 of ii Henry VII. , cap. 2. (1495), empowered any two 
 Justices of the Peace ' to reject and put away common 
 ale selling in towns and places where they should think 
 convenient, and to take sureties of keepers of ale-houses 
 in their good behaving.' By 5 and 6 Edward VI., 
 cap. 25 (1552), the power of suppressing ale-houses was 
 confirmed, and it was enacted that no one should be 
 allowed to keep an ale-house unless he obtained the 
 authority of two justices of the peace. The justices 
 were, also, to take sureties for the observance of rules 
 for the conduct of the house, and were empowered to 
 try breaches of those rules, and to punish persons who 
 kept ale-houses without being licensed. Various other 
 early Statutes followed, amplifying the powers of the 
 justices on these general lines, or consolidating the 
 various Acts then existing ; but they were all based on 
 the general principle that the sale of intoxicants was, in 
 itself, not unlawful or harmful, though the keeping of 
 an effective check over the individuals conducting the 
 retail trade was, nevertheless, held to be desirable in the 
 interests of public order. 
 
 The difficulties in the way of maintaining public 
 order were certainly found serious enough, in view of 
 the inefficiency of the police system of those days ; but 
 a series of developments for which the legislators them- 
 selves were directly responsible brought about excesses 
 far greater than anything previously experienced. In 
 1643 the Parliament of the Revolution imposed excise 
 
 6
 
 82 LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 duties on ale and beer, in the interests of the revenue, 
 and these duties were not only maintained but sub- 
 stantially increased from time to time, the tax per 
 barrel of strong beer, fixed at 2s. 6d. in 1650, being 
 raised to 55. in 1692. Up to this time the ordinary 
 people had been content to drink ale and beer ; but the 
 price of malt liquors was now substantially enhanced, 
 owing to the duties, and a great impetus was given 
 to the manufacture and consumption of spirits, the 
 quantity of beer produced by licensed London brewers 
 declining from 2,088,000 barrels in 1690 to 1,523,000 
 barrels in 1693. 
 
 Meanwhile other causes had been operating to increase 
 still further the substitution of spirits for ale and beer. 
 With a view either to encourage native industries, or to 
 spite the French, the Revolution Parliament prohibited 
 the importation of spirits, and granted permission to all 
 persons, on the payment of small duties, to distil and 
 retail spirits made from English-grown corn. Possibly, 
 also, it was considered that this concession was a set- 
 off to the imposition of a comparatively heavy tax on 
 ale and beer. A fresh charter granted to the Brewers' 
 Company by Charles II. conferred upon the freemen 
 the right to distil, and such right was confirmed by still 
 another charter, granted to them in 1685 by James II. 
 Between 1690 and 1701 a series of Statutes gave direct 
 encouragement to the distilling industry in general. 
 
 The effect of these various concessions was an 
 enormous increase in the manufacture and consumption 
 of spirits. Up to the time of the Revolution, there 
 were but few British distilleries, and the brandy 
 imported from France was too dear for the average 
 citizen. The distilleries now rapidly increased in 
 number, and the people, discarding honest English ale, 
 acquired a passion for English gin. The production of
 
 GIN SUCCEEDS ALE 83 
 
 spirits, which stood at 527,000 gallons in 1684, increased 
 to 2,000,000 gallons in 1714, to 5,394,000 gallons in 
 1735, and to 7,160,000 gallons in 1742. 
 
 The evils resulting from the free sale of gin and the 
 almost universal practice of excessive gin-drinking, 
 which now came into vogue, have been painted in the 
 most lurid colours, and, even allowing for a certain 
 amount of exaggeration, they must have been bad 
 enough. But they were evils for which the legislators 
 of the day were themselves mainly responsible; and 
 now, having created or encouraged in the people a 
 pronounced taste for gin, they proceeded to make 
 matters still worse by trying to place excessive restric- 
 tions on the gratification of such taste. In 1728 a duty 
 of 55. a gallon, in addition to the existing duties, was 
 put on the manufacture of spirits, and all retailers were 
 required to take out an annual excise licence, for which 
 they were to pay 20. The effect, however, was to give 
 a great impetus to illicit trading, and the Act was 
 repealed four years later. 
 
 In 1736 the Middlesex magistrates presented to Par- 
 liament a petition in which they said that ' the drink- 
 ing of Geneva and other distilled waters had for some 
 years past greatly increased, that the constant and 
 excessive use thereof had destroyed thousands of His 
 Majesty's subjects, and that great numbers of others 
 were by its use rendered unfit for useful labour, de- 
 bauched in morals, and drawn into all manner of vice 
 and wickedness.' So in this same year (1736) the 
 famous Prohibition Act of 9 George II., cap. 23, com- 
 monly known as ' the Gin Act,' was passed. 
 
 The avowed object of the measure was to secure the 
 entire suppression of the sale of spirits in small quanti- 
 ties. The Act required all persons selling less than 
 2 gallons of spirits at a time to take out a licence which 
 
 62
 
 84 LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 would cost 50, and a duty of 20s. a gallon was to be 
 paid by retailers, in addition to the duties payable by 
 the distillers. Any person selling spirits without a 
 licence was to be liable to a penalty of .100, and 
 licences were to be granted only to keepers of victual- 
 ling houses, inns, etc., who carried on no other trade. 
 
 But the Act was one that aimed at much more than 
 the maintenance of public order. It was an exception- 
 ally striking example of legislation directed to making 
 people not only sober, but moral and virtuous, by Act 
 of Parliament, for in the preamble of the measure it 
 was set forth that 
 
 The drinking of spirituous liquors or strong waters is become 
 very common, especially among the people of lower or inferior 
 rank, the constant and excessive use whereof tends greatly 
 to the destruction of their health, rendering them unfit for useful 
 labour and business, debauching their morals, and inciting them 
 to perpetrate all manner of vices, and the ill consequences of such 
 liquors are not confined to the present generation, but extend to 
 future ages and tend to the devastation of this kingdom. 
 
 Had these declarations been the preamble of a mani- 
 festo issued by some such body as the United Kingdom 
 Alliance they would have been in keeping therewith, 
 but actual legislation framed in this spirit could hardly 
 be otherwise than a failure. What actually happened 
 cannot be better related than in the words of Dr. 
 Shadwell in his book on ' Drink, Temperance, and 
 Legislation ' : 
 
 The first result was an apparent decrease of consumption, but 
 that lasted a very short time, and it soon became clear that the 
 Act was much worse than a failure. Illicit trade sprang up, and 
 greatly augmented the evil. Although 12,000 persons were punished 
 for infringing the law in two years, it flourished, notwithstanding, 
 beyond all power of control. Distillers took out wine licenses and 
 sold a concoction of gin, sugar, and spice as wine, just as they do 
 to-day in Norway and Sweden. Druggists put up gin in physic- 
 bottles, and called it ' Cholick water' or 'Gripe water,' with the 
 direction, ' Take two or three spoonfulls of this four or five times
 
 THE GIN EPIDEMIC 85 
 
 a day, or as often as the fit takes you.' Gin was sold in the taverns 
 under another name. In short, the repressive Act gave a great 
 stimulus to the traffic. The consumption in England and Wales 
 rose from 11,000,000 gallons in 1733 to nearly 20,000,000 in 1742, 
 and there is not the slightest doubt that a most shocking state of 
 things prevailed. 
 
 There is no need for me to go into details with 
 regard to the said shocking state of things resulting 
 from the ' gin epidemic ' thus brought about. My con- 
 cern here is, rather, with the attitude of the Legislature 
 in relation thereto ; and what I next find is that, pro- 
 hibition and high licence having proved abortive (for 
 everyone who pleased sold gin without troubling about 
 a licence at all, setting the law at defiance), a new 
 experiment was now entered upon. An Act passed in 
 1743 repealed that of 1736, reduced the retail licence 
 duty from 50 to 205., and abolished the duty of 2os. 
 on each gallon. In effect the attempt to suppress the 
 traffic altogether was abandoned as hopeless, and the 
 business was brought within the means, on a legal 
 footing, of all who could raise a sovereign for a licence ; 
 though here the great concern of the Government was, 
 apparently, to safeguard the interests of the revenue, 
 the idea being that retailers who had refused to take 
 out licences at prohibitive rates would pay for them 
 when the charges were so substantially reduced. 
 
 Conditions now became, if possible, worse than ever. 
 Fielding wrote in 1751 that gin was 'the principal sus- 
 tenance (if so it may be called) of more than 100,000 
 persons in the Metropolis,' and the scenes and inci- 
 dents that occurred were unworthy of a civilized 
 country. In the same year in which Fielding wrote 
 the Legislature made fresh efforts, passing an Act 
 which laid down (i) that distillers should not sell either 
 retail or to unlicensed publicans, and (2) that debts 
 for drink could not be recovered at law. These were
 
 86 LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 essentially reasonable propositions, and Mr. Lecky says 
 of them that they had ' a real and very considerable 
 effect.' Two years later the justices had further powers 
 of control conferred on them, and statutory authority 
 was given to the system of annual licences ; while 
 there were enacted additional regulations in regard to 
 licensing and management, of which Mr. Lecky says 
 that though they were ' much less ambitious than the 
 Act of 1736 ' (that is to say, the ' Gin Act,' referred to 
 above), ' they were far more efficacious.' In other 
 words, when the Legislature refrained, on the one 
 hand, from trying to enforce impracticable restrictions, 
 and, on the other, from a course of ill-advised laxity, 
 and adopted instead a system of reasonable control, 
 they secured a much greater measure of success. Their 
 ' gin policy,' especially, had represented a series of de- 
 plorable blunderings, resulting in incalculable harm ; 
 but conditions now began to improve, even in this 
 respect, and the less intoxicating malt liquors regained 
 somewhat of their old position. 
 
 The ' Ale-house Act ' of 1828 codified or repealed a 
 bewildering collection of then existing Statutes, and 
 became the recognized foundation of subsequent 
 licensing law in this country. Two years later there 
 was a reversion to the period of experiment. Various 
 parties in the State had, for various reasons, favoured 
 ' free trade ' in ale and ale-houses, and the Duke of 
 Wellington's Ministry likewise supported the idea, in 
 the belief that free trade in ale would check the con- 
 sumption of spirits, then again increasing, while ale 
 and beer licences had fallen off. A period of ' laxity ' 
 was thus again brought about by the Beer Bill of 1830, 
 which authorized any householder whose name was in 
 the rate-book to sell beer, but not other intoxicating 
 liquors, by retail, without obtaining a licence from the
 
 BEER ACT OF 1830 87 
 
 Justices, and free from any control, on payment of two 
 guineas to the Excise. 
 
 The Act came into force in October, 1830, and the 
 result was the opening of ' beer-houses ' (now first in- 
 troduced) in such numbers, and under such conditions, 
 as astonished and alarmed the country. By the end of 
 the year no fewer than 24,342 persons had paid the 
 2 2s. fee and obtained a beer licence from the Excise, 
 fifty new beer-shops being opened in Liverpool alone 
 every day for several weeks. Many of the places where 
 the beer was sold were cellars or other premises quite 
 unfit for the purpose, and, in the absence of sufficient 
 control by either police or magistrates, conditions were 
 brought about which suggested that, instead of having 
 solved the liquor question, the Legislature had simply 
 started on a fresh chapter. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that there was 
 created the subsequently much-discussed excessive 
 number of beer-houses, though the results which 
 followed had not been without their effect on the fully- 
 licenced houses as well. On the one hand, holders of 
 beer licences were encouraged by the magistrates to 
 take out licences for the sale of spirits, so that they 
 could be brought under the control from which, as 
 beer-house keepers only, they were then free. On the 
 other, the holders of spirit licences sought to meet the 
 greatly increased competition of the beer- houses by 
 enlarging their establishments and increasing the 
 attractions thereof. In the end the check which had 
 been temporarily given to the sale of spirits dis- 
 appeared, and the consumption steadily increased. 
 
 A modification of the Act of 1830 was brought about 
 four years later, when a further Beer Act first made 
 a distinction between ' on ' and ' off ' licences, the 
 Excise duty for the off-licences being reduced to i,
 
 88 LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 while the on-licences were to cost 3, and were to be 
 granted only on the production of a certificate of good 
 character, signed by six ratepayers in the parish. Still 
 another Beer Act, passed in 1840, provided that no 
 licence, whether ' on ' or ' off,' should be granted by the 
 Excise to any person not a real resident holder and 
 occupier of the house to be licensed, and such house 
 must have a rateable value of 15, n, or 8, according 
 to the number of the population. 
 
 Two years before the adoption of this last-mentioned 
 measure there was passed an Act which enforced the 
 closing of public-houses in London between midnight 
 on Saturday and noon on Sunday, the disorderly 
 scenes previously witnessed, when the public-houses 
 remained open from Saturday to church-time on Sunday 
 morning, thus being checked without placing any undue 
 restraint on the reasonable requirements of the public. 
 Hours of Sunday -closing were fixed generally in 
 1854-55, while in Scotland total Sunday-closing was 
 established in 1854 under the Forbes Mackenzie Act, 
 though in 1862 it was found necessary to pass a Scotch 
 amending Act, in order (among other things) to check 
 the illicit traffic to which the total Sunday-closing 
 had given rise. The so-called Grocers' Licences were 
 inaugurated under Mr. Gladstone's Wine and Refresh- 
 ment Houses Act of 1860. 
 
 Some great changes resulted from the passing, in 
 1869, of the first Wine and Beer-house Act. The 
 freedom from magisterial control which the beer-houses 
 had hitherto enjoyed was brought to an end by the 
 enactment that no licence, or renewal of a licence, for 
 the sale by retail of beer, cider, or wine should be 
 granted by the Excise except upon production of a 
 certificate granted by the Justices assembled at the 
 General Annual Licensing Session held under the Act
 
 ANTI-i86 9 BEER-HOUSES 89 
 
 of 1828. But the Justices could refuse a certificate for 
 an ' off ' licence only on one or more of four specified 
 grounds,* and only on the same grounds were they 
 authorized to refuse the renewal of an 'on' licence 
 already in existence on May i, 1869, although absolute 
 discretion was given to them in regard to the granting 
 of new licences. 
 
 This was the origin of the special privilege conferred 
 on the ' ante-i869 beer-houses.' But though, on the 
 one hand, the control of the magistrates had un- 
 doubtedly been widened, they subsequently chafed at 
 the restrictions still imposed upon them, for, when the 
 question arose as to reducing the number of licensed 
 houses, they were powerless in regard to the 'ante- 
 1869 beer-houses,' many of which had been opened in 
 the rush that followed the Beer-house Act of 1830, had 
 structural defects or afforded inadequate accommoda- 
 tion, and were also, it might be, in excess of the actual 
 requirements of a neighbourhood. 
 
 These conditions continued until 1904 ; but mean- 
 while the policy of reasonable control underwent 
 development by the Licensing Act of 1872, wherein 
 most of the regulations now in force are laid down. 
 Improvements were effected in the forms and con- 
 ditions of licences ; a ' six-day licence ' was introduced ; 
 penalties were imposed with a view alike to the better 
 management of licensed houses and to punishment for 
 drunkenness ; power was given to landlords to exclude 
 drunken or disorderly persons ; licences were to be 
 forfeited on repeated conviction ; and the hours of 
 closing were altered, though it was by the Act of 1874 
 that the hours now in general force were fixed. In 
 
 * (i) Failure of applicant to produce satisfactory evidence of 
 good character ; (2) house in question disorderly or frequented 
 by bad characters ; (3) previous forfeiture ; (4) applicant or house 
 not duly qualified by law.
 
 go LIQUOR LEGISLATION IN THE PAST 
 
 1876 a Select Committee of the House of Lords re- 
 ported that the recent legislation had had ' a beneficial 
 effect throughout the country,' and except, perhaps, in 
 regard to the hours of closing, the Acts of 1872 and 
 1874 were found by the licence-holders themselves to 
 be so efficient that, in their view, no alteration of them 
 was needed in the public interests. 
 
 Many more Acts followed, among them (to mention a 
 few) being further experiments in prohibitory legislation 
 in the form of Sunday-closing in Ireland (1878) and 
 Wales (1881), to which reference will be made later on ; 
 an Act (1882) giving Justices full discretion over 'off' 
 beer licences; an Act (1885) defining beer, for Inland 
 Revenue purposes, as any liquor which is made or sold 
 as a description of beer, or as a substitute for beer, con- 
 taining more than 2 per cent, of alcohol ; and following 
 on a Royal Commission, an Act (1902), which increased 
 the control of the justices over the structure of licensed 
 premises, made important changes in regard to transfer 
 and to the costs of justices whose decisions were 
 appealed against, gave still wider discretion to justices 
 in regard to 'off' licences, and made various alterations 
 of the laws relating to drunkenness, clubs, etc. 
 
 With the Act of 1904 I propose to deal subsequently ; 
 but even such a hasty and incomplete survey of past 
 licensing legislation as that here given (and there have 
 been various Acts to which I have not stopped to 
 allude) should show that many of the ' evils of the 
 liquor traffic,' for which more or less heroic remedies 
 are now proposed, have been directly due to the 
 experiments or to the ill-advised fluctuating policy if 
 not ' no policy ' from time to time of the Legislature 
 itself. British licensing legislation, in fact, seems to 
 have been shaped in the past four centuries on much 
 the same principle as British wars are still conducted 
 that, namely, of ' blundering through somehow !'
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 I PASS on now to deal with some of the various types 
 of houses which, under legal sanction, exist for the 
 retail supply of those alcoholic beverages that meet, as 
 I have sought to show, a natural and a reasonable want 
 on the part of the community ; and in this connection 
 I propose specially to consider the so-called ' tied ' (or 
 tenanted) and ' managed ' houses, the former in the 
 present chapter, the latter in the chapter that follows. 
 
 The question of ' tied ' houses constitutes one of 
 those bugbears of the teetotal platform in regard to 
 which there exists on the part of the general public 
 and especially the temperance section thereof a vast 
 amount of prejudice, with very little knowledge as to the 
 real facts of the case. It represents a phase of the general 
 controversy on which platform orators, strengthened 
 occasionally in their arguments by the allegations, more 
 or less untrustworthy, of so-called ' victims ' of the 
 system, have found it comparatively easy to mislead 
 sympathetic audiences, themselves unable to judge from 
 personal experience whether what they are told is true, 
 false, or exaggerated, but prepared in advance to accept 
 it all as gospel. 
 
 A like policy, again, has been too often adopted in 
 the Press, statements being made which a very little
 
 92 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 inquiry would show to be either groundless or altogether 
 misleading. Truth, for instance, in its issue of May 9, 
 1906, published an article, under the heading ' Beerlord 
 and Tenant,' in which, commenting on a case that had 
 come before the courts, it declared that the tied-house 
 system is 'mischievous and intolerable,' that the 
 publican's interest is not to let his customers have 
 what they want if he can help it, and that his ' one and 
 only interest is to induce every man and woman who 
 enter his house to swallow the greatest possible 
 quantity of the beerlord's brew, good, bad, or in- 
 different.' The writer added that if the tenant ' fails 
 to push down his customer's throat a sufficient quantity 
 to satisfy his lord, woe betide him !' for 'in nine cases 
 out of ten he is in the hands of a corporation which has 
 neither soul to be damned nor body to be kicked !' 
 
 To place the British public in a position to form 
 their own judgment as to the trustworthiness or other- 
 wise of assertions of the type here indicated, I propose 
 to state as briefly as possible the real position in regard 
 both to ' tied ' and ' managed ' houses, the story I have 
 to tell being based partly on a study of the past history 
 of the developments in question, and partly on visits 
 paid to houses of both types in various parts of the 
 country, supplemented by conversations with indi- 
 viduals having personal experience in all the various 
 phases of the question. 
 
 To begin with a definition of terms : a ' free ' house 
 is a public-house owned by the occupant, or rented 
 otherwise than from a brewer, the publican being at 
 full liberty to obtain his liquors wherever he thinks fit; 
 a ' tied ' tenant is one who leases or rents a house from 
 a brewery firm, from whom he is bound to purchase 
 his beer and, possibly, other commodities; a partially 
 ' tied ' house is one where the licence-holder has obtained
 
 PRINCIPLE OF THE 'TIE' 93 
 
 a mortgage on his house from a brewer; while a 
 ' managed ' house is one that is under the charge of a 
 person who receives a stated wage from the person to 
 whom it belongs, or by whom it is rented. 
 
 Public-houses that are really free in the fullest sense 
 of the word represent to-day a very small proportion of 
 the whole perhaps not more than 6 or 8 per cent. 
 But the principle of the ' tie ' is by no means of recent 
 innovation, as many persons suppose. It has been in 
 vogue ever since the brewing interest came into the 
 hands of large capitalists, and it must be regarded as 
 mainly due to the policy of our Legislature in regard to 
 the liquor traffic in general. One inevitable result of 
 the licensing system in its various phases of restriction 
 and limitation has been to convert the sale of alcoholic 
 beverages into a valuable monopoly, and a person 
 desirous of becoming a licensed victualler or a beer- 
 house-keeper has required to control a large, or a com- 
 paratively large, amount of capital, especially if he 
 wished to pay off the out-going tenant, and be entire 
 owner of goodwill and fixtures. In very many instances 
 the would-be publican has not had sufficient money of 
 his own, and the practice for generations has been for 
 an individual in this position to borrow money from a 
 firm of brewers to enable him to complete his purchase. 
 This money he has borrowed on mortgage, with the 
 obligation to deal with the brewers for his beer. 
 
 Is there anything immoral or inimical to the public 
 interests in this principle? It is difficult to see how 
 there can be. It is a commercial arrangement which 
 one section of traders ought to be perfectly free to 
 make with another, to their mutual advantage. Bakers 
 and grocers and other tradesmen of limited means are 
 glad to be set up in business by wholesale dealers under 
 like conditions, and it surely cannot be more immoral
 
 94 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 to ' tie ' alcoholic drinks than it is t6 ' tie ' the most 
 necessary of the staple articles of food. 
 
 In the Metropolis the practice in question has pre- 
 vailed in the licensed trade so long that it has become 
 known as ' the London Custom,' and a very large pro- 
 portion indeed of the ' old-fashioned publicans ' were, in 
 this way, and in this way alone, enabled to start in 
 business, notwithstanding the enormous value to which 
 public-house property had attained. It has been no 
 uncommon thing for a man with, say, only 1,000 of 
 capital to buy a public-house for 10,000, borrow 
 9,000 from a brewery firm at from 3 1 to 4 or 5 per 
 cent., tying himself, also, for beer ; and then secure 
 smaller additional loans from a whisky distiller, a gin 
 distiller, a wine merchant, and a cigar merchant suc- 
 cessively, undertaking in each case to deal with them 
 for their particular class of goods. In this way he has 
 raised not alone all the purchase money, but also 
 sufficient working capital for making a good start with 
 the business acquired. 
 
 It may even happen that a man with only 500 of 
 his own may thus enter on a business which represents 
 a capital of 11,000 or 12,000. His 500 will be the 
 equivalent of ordinary shares, while the remainder will 
 rank, as it were, as debentures ; and there is, probably, 
 no other commercial enterprise where the same pro- 
 portion is found. The tenant takes for these ordinary 
 shares the ordinary business risk, to the extent of the 
 value thereof; but he also takes the profit that can be 
 made out of the house, and, if there should be a large 
 increase in the value of the business, he can sell out and 
 reap the benefit. Once more, there is hardly any other 
 trade where like conditions are to be found. That a 
 man enjoying these advantages should he held up by 
 the temperance party to public sympathy as the ' slave '
 
 ADVANTAGES FOR THE TENANT 95 
 
 or the ' victim ' of the brewers is a line of tactics quite 
 inconsistent with fact and reason, and the obvious 
 motive is, not any real sympathy for the tenant, but a 
 desire to discredit the brewers. No man is a slave or 
 a victim who can make a fair living, if not sometimes 
 even a fortune, by trading mainly with the capital of 
 his landlords. 
 
 If, again, a tenant, operating on the lines here de- 
 scribed, becomes dissatisfied with the beer supplied to 
 him by the brewers who were his landlords, or if he 
 thinks he can do better elsewhere, he has only to go to 
 a second firm, borrow sufficient from them to pay off 
 the others, and start afresh with firm number 2, though 
 in this case he is, of course, merely transferring his 
 'tie,' such tie continuing until he has made sufficient 
 from the business to clear off the loans altogether, if he 
 so desires. But the advantage thus possessed by the 
 publican in facility of transfer from one brewer to 
 another is naturally a disadvantage to the other party 
 in the transaction, because of the element of un- 
 certainty introduced, and a decided preference has been 
 shown by provincial brewers for buying properties out- 
 right, instead of making loans to independent purchasers. 
 
 The concession and acceptance of tenancies went on 
 for many years as an ordinary business proposition, 
 regulated on strictly commercial lines ; but meanwhile 
 causes were operating in other directions to give a 
 decided impetus to the purchase of public - house 
 properties by brewery companies. As the attitude both 
 of the Legislature and of the teetotal party grew more 
 and more hostile, the ' old-fashioned publican,' who 
 owned his house, became more and more uneasy. 
 He had not worried much about the speeches and the 
 annual motions in Parliament of the late Sir Wilfrid 
 Lawson, which amused him rather than otherwise ; but
 
 96 'TIED 1 HOUSES 
 
 when members of the Government became supporters of 
 local option, and proposed or foreshadowed legislation 
 directly menacing his interests, he began to fear for the 
 business in which he had invested his savings. As the 
 outlook got still more unfavourable, he thought it better 
 to make the best bargain he could with some brewery 
 firm or other and sell out. Controlling only one house, 
 the licence of which might be taken from him through 
 no fault of his own, he was in a position altogether 
 different from that of a firm of brewers who, if deprived 
 of the licence for one of a number of houses, could 
 spread the loss over the others. 
 
 Thus the ' free ' publican of former days became 
 ready enough to sell, and various firms of brewers, in 
 their turn, became ready enough to buy ; while still 
 others concluded that, in the interests of their own 
 trade, they would have to follow the example of their 
 competitors. It was foreseen that, if the purchases thus 
 made were carried to extreme limits, some of the 
 brewers might eventually find themselves face to face 
 with serious disadvantages. But the uneasiness of the 
 individual publicans increased as the attitude towards 
 them of politicians and teetotallers became still more 
 aggressive, and their consequent inclination to sell was 
 naturally strengthened by the steady inflation of prices 
 that followed the active competition among the would- 
 be purchasers. In many instances those who sold did 
 so at a substantial profit to themselves, mainly at the 
 cost of the brewers, and, as far as they were concerned, 
 it cannot be suggested that the conditions were too 
 hard. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that, in spite of the 
 abnormal values to which public-house properties rose, 
 the trade passed more and more from the hands of 
 private individuals into those of brewery companies ; but
 
 THE CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP 97 
 
 the primary cause for this transition is to be found, not 
 in any deliberate scheme on the part of the companies 
 to secure these properties from the individual owners 
 (who need not have sold out unless they pleased), but in 
 the state of alarm to which such owners were reduced 
 by the active hostility of their parliamentary critics and 
 the threatening attitude of their avowed enemies, who 
 now join in denouncing the very system they have them- 
 selves done so much to bring about. 
 
 The public-house properties thus acquired by brewery 
 firms or companies are either let to tenants, or, alterna- 
 tively, are placed in charge of managers, who occupy the 
 position of paid servants. I propose to discuss in some 
 detail each of these systems. 
 
 In regard to tenants, they may have a lease, or, 
 especially in the country, be under a yearly agreement 
 or a three months' notice. In either case the agreement 
 entered into by the tenant will require him to obtain 
 from the brewers who are his landlords all the beer he 
 requires for sale, and if they are dealers in wines and 
 spirits, and manufacturers of mineral waters, he may be 
 ' tied ' in respect to these beverages also. Conditions 
 vary with different brewery companies and in different 
 districts ; but, speaking generally, a tenant will not be 
 entirely restricted to such beers as his landlords brew, 
 and hardly ever to the spirits they themselves blend. 
 Within certain limits, the tenants are allowed to order, 
 and to sell, standard proprietary beverages, which the 
 brewers supply when there is a demand for them by the 
 public, and especially when non-supply might lead to a 
 transfer of custom to some other house. Such standard 
 articles include draught and bottled Burton beers, 
 Edinburgh beers, Dublin stout, London stout, various 
 lagers, British or Continental, ciders, and popular 
 brands of spirits. In some houses I have heard of, 
 
 7
 
 gS 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 which have an established reputation for a particular 
 type of beverage Burton beers, for example not a 
 single glass of the landlord's own brew will be sold. It 
 is all a question of demand and supply. While, how- 
 ever, the tenant is required to obtain these proprietary 
 articles (should he need them) through his landlords, 
 he is not necessarily placed at a disadvantage thereby, 
 inasmuch as the owners secure special discounts by 
 ordering large quantities, and can thus obtain a profit 
 for themselves, although charging the tenant exactly 
 what he would pay if he, wanting much smaller quanti- 
 ties, dealt direct with the actual producers. 
 
 On the other hand, the ' certain limits ' spoken of 
 above will restrict a tenant from supplying the beers of 
 any local brewer, apart from those of the firm or company 
 with whom he has entered into agreement, and it is this 
 restriction that constitutes one of his chief grievances. 
 Should he be ' tied ' to brewers whose productions are 
 poor in quality, the grievance will be a real one, and 
 the tenant may well regret his inability to supply the 
 better article his patrons would like. But where the 
 tenant is ' tied ' to a really good firm, whose beverages 
 are of undoubted excellence and in general favour, the 
 grievance is less acute, though even in this case it may 
 still be advanced. 
 
 The tenant may think that if he could only sell 
 other kinds of beer and spirits, costing him less money, 
 he would secure a higher profit for himself, and he 
 naturally looks at the matter from the standpoint of 
 personal interest. The brewers, in their turn, argue (i) 
 that, inasmuch as they have invested so much of their 
 own capital in the business, they may reasonably prefer 
 to see their own beer sold rather than that of a local 
 competitor; and (2)'that whilst a sale of inferior qualities 
 might help the tenant to make larger profits for the
 
 TENANTS AND THEIR TEMPTERS 99 
 
 time being, it would inevitably damage the reputation 
 of the house, and this loss would fall upon them when 
 the tenant, perhaps, had gone elsewhere. Experience 
 has shown that, when a tenant takes over a house which 
 has previously been under the management system, he 
 generally begins to order cheaper qualities of liquor, 
 and this has led some brewery firms to insert a clause 
 in their agreement with a tenant to the effect that he 
 shall purchase from them the same qualities as those 
 hitherto sold in the house. 
 
 While on this subject, I might add that there are 
 landlords of ' free ' houses who are sometimes worried 
 almost out of their lives by the agents of whisky firms 
 desirous of, if not determined on, getting orders for the 
 supply of that commodity. Such individuals have been 
 known to stay a week at a time in a house, and to give a 
 present of a silk dress to the landlady, so that she may 
 bring her persuasive powers to bear on her husband, or 
 to offer other bribes or commissions with a view to 
 getting business. The landlord who finally submits to 
 such influences may then be supplied with a palatable 
 but still inferior kind of liquor, which he has no means 
 of testing, and for which he must pay a price that will 
 cover, not only cost of production, but also the outlay 
 involved in getting the order. When, on the other 
 hand, brewery firms buy large quantities of whisky, 
 they subject the samples to exhaustive analysis in their 
 laboratory to make certain that the quality is what it 
 should be, and they save the expenses of the whisky 
 agents, so that they are able both to supply a guaran- 
 teed quality and to give the landlord a better article for 
 his money, while the public, in their turn, benefit as 
 well. The temptation to a ' free ' publican to put 
 inferior whisky before his customers when he is in any 
 way hard up is enormous ; but from such a possibility as 
 
 72
 
 ioo 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 this whisky-drinkers are effectually safeguarded where 
 the ' tied house ' system is in operation. 
 
 The principle on which the amount of rent is fixed 
 varies in different districts. In some, such as the Tyne, 
 Warrington, and Wigan, the tenant pays a low rental, 
 but is charged a higher rate for goods supplied than a 
 free tenant would pay, so that, given two houses of 
 equal rent but unequal trade, the tenant who did the 
 larger business would, through his barrelage, pay the 
 larger amount to the brewers. In the Tyne district I 
 visited a rebuilt house which was assessed at 100, but 
 for which the tenant paid only "48 a year ; and I saw, 
 also, houses which, rented by a brewery company 
 itself, had been sublet to the actual tenant at a sub- 
 stantially lower figure. In other districts Manchester, 
 for example the tenant pays full rent and only standard 
 prices for goods supplied. 
 
 Whatever the precise conditions, the tenant gets far 
 more in the way of repairs and improvements from his 
 brewery landlords than a ' free ' publican would be 
 likely to get from a landlord who was not a brewer, 
 and who looked exclusively to the rent for his return 
 on capital invested. This is a very material point (to 
 which sufficient attention is not always paid), inasmuch 
 as it may make a considerable difference in the tenant's 
 outgoings, while securing for him the maintenance of 
 his place in such condition that it will not fall off in 
 public favour. From the point of view of the owning 
 companies, it is a mere matter of business that they 
 should operate on these lines, in the interests of their 
 own property ; but, in effect, there is probably no other 
 class of tenants in the world who get more done for 
 them by their landlords in the way of repairs and 
 improvements than the tenants of ' tied ' houses owned 
 by brewers. The same conditions apply to the pay-
 
 CONDITIONS OF TENANCY 101 
 
 ment of rent in times of personal misfortune or trade 
 depression. Here a consideration is shown by the 
 brewers towards their tenants which would not be 
 surpassed by any other class of landlords, and certainly 
 could not be compared with the position in which 
 ' free ' publicans would stand in relation to a non- 
 brewer from whom they had borrowed money on 
 mortgage. Some brewers, again and especially those 
 charging higher rates for goods supplied are generous 
 in providing their tenants with bar-fittings and acces- 
 sories, furniture for public rooms, and other things 
 besides. In certain houses I have visited on the north- 
 east coast the value of such accessories (included in 
 the rent, and entered in the schedule of the agreement) 
 ranged from "200 to 250. 
 
 These are matters of detail which should naturally 
 be borne in mind in considering the relations between 
 landlord and tenant. But, in any case, the tenancy 
 represents a perfectly free contract. It is entered into 
 with a full knowledge of the facts, and the tenant need 
 not sign the agreement at all if it is not to his liking. 
 On the other hand, it is only reasonable to expect that 
 those who do enter voluntarily into agreements, whether 
 in the liquor or in any other branch of legitimate and 
 recognized trade, should be required to keep them.* 
 
 The fact of a tenancy being terminable at the end of 
 three months' notice may be thought to impose a hard- 
 ship on a tenant. But the average brewery company 
 is naturally desirous of keeping good tenants when they 
 have once been secured ; and I am informed by a certain 
 provincial company, which controls some hundreds of 
 
 * In order that the reader may form his own opinion as to the 
 nature of the agreements entered into between brewery companies 
 and tenants, I give, in the Appendix, a form in use in Lancashire and 
 Cheshire.
 
 102 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 tenanted houses, that the number of cases in which 
 notice to quit is given to its tenants would scarcely 
 amount to one a year. 
 
 From the point of view of the brewers, one dis- 
 advantage of the tenancy system that may arise is in 
 regard to the transfer of the licence when this becomes 
 necessary. Up to about five years ago it was considered 
 sufficient if the incoming tenant alone appeared before 
 the licensing justices when the application for the 
 transfer was made; but since the passing of the 
 Act of 1902, the attendance of the outgoing tenant is 
 generally required to allow of the transfer being com- 
 pleted, although the bench may, for good and sufficient 
 reasons, dispense with such attendance. But an out- 
 going tenant who has received notice from the brewers 
 for misconduct or incompetency is invariably a man 
 with a grievance, and the requirement in question gives 
 him an excellent opportunity for levying blackmail on 
 those against whom he feels a grudge. Many instances 
 have occurred of men in this position declining to 
 attend the court unless it is made worth their while 
 so to do, and this generally means that they must be 
 given a receipt in full for all that they owe to the 
 brewers for rent or goods, and perhaps a substantial 
 sum in addition. Even then a maliciously-minded man 
 will sometimes try, in open court, to spoil the prospects 
 of the transfer if he can. 
 
 The main reason for requiring the attendance of the 
 outgoing tenant is, apparently, to prevent the traffick- 
 ing in licences which grew up under the earlier system, 
 the magistrates being further empowered to limit the 
 number of transfers, in respect of the same house, 
 during the currency of the licence. Some benches, 
 however, take advantage of the enactment to inquire 
 from the outgoing tenant whether he has been able
 
 OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXTORTION 103 
 
 to conduct the business at a profit, an answer in the 
 negative giving them the excuse for refusing the trans- 
 fer. This course of procedure leads to a system of 
 extortion which frequently involves the loss of hundreds 
 of pounds over a single transfer, while in any case it 
 handicaps the brewery companies in getting rid of 
 undesirable tenants, and putting more competent or 
 more trustworthy ones in their place. In point of fact, 
 instead of the tenant being at the mercy of the land- 
 lord, the landlord may be at the mercy of the tenant 
 alike during the period of the tenancy (since mis- 
 conduct in management may endanger the licence) 
 and also when the tenancy is expiring. 
 
 Another practical difficulty arises in this way : the 
 Licensing Act of 1902 gives the licensing magistrates 
 power, on the occasion of every application for the 
 transfer of a licence, to call for the production of the 
 tenancy agreement between the owner and the pro- 
 posed licencee, so that they may learn on what terms 
 the latter will hold the premises, and, also, following 
 up the aforesaid interrogation of the outgoing tenant, 
 ascertain still further what are the prospects of the 
 house being conducted at a profit. But some benches 
 of magistrates have gone beyond this requirement, and 
 have insisted upon the prices at which the owners will 
 supply the tenant with his goods being entered on the 
 agreement ; while in certain instances the magistrates 
 have even stipulated that the price at which the goods 
 are to be supplied shall be the minimum price for which 
 similar goods can be obtained in the district. 
 
 In all this there is the suggestion of a serious inter- 
 ference with the freedom of contract, and, whatever 
 may have been the custom centuries ago, it is doubtful 
 if the Legislature of to-day ever contemplated such an 
 attempt to check economic and commercial laws as
 
 104 'TIED' HOUSES 
 
 one finds implied in the fixing by magistrates of the 
 prices at which commodities shall be sold. Apart, 
 however, from the important question of principle 
 involved, the practical difficulties which arise are 
 certainly sufficient to show the absurdity of the 
 situation. 
 
 Everybody knows that there is beer and beer, and 
 that the qualities brewed in one particular place may 
 have a reputation, and hence command a heavy sale, 
 far and wide. It is no uncommon thing for such quali- 
 ties to be sent to London from provincial towns two 
 hundred or more miles away ; but the London owners 
 receiving the consignments have to meet heavy charges 
 for carriage and distribution, and it is not reasonable to 
 expect them to supply these particular qualities at the 
 same price at which the local publicans in the pro- 
 vincial town in question would get them direct, or at 
 the same price as that at which beer made in London 
 could be supplied to London houses, the cost of 
 carriage or, rather, cartage and distribution in the 
 two latter cases being extremely small in comparison. 
 In the same way London stout could hardly be sold, 
 say, in Yorkshire or Durham if the brewery firms there 
 were bound to ask no more for it from their tenants 
 than the price paid for stout made locally, and costing 
 practically nothing for transport. 
 
 The logical result, therefore, of the requirement in 
 question, if it were generally enforced, must be that 
 consumers would have to be satisfied with home- 
 brewed beverages, and submit to being deprived of 
 those on which transport charges from a point of 
 origin some distance away had to be paid, while the 
 radius of distribution now open to brewers would be 
 seriously curtailed. Extreme teetotallers might rejoice 
 at such an issue, and those of them who are licensing
 
 AGREEMENTS AND PRICES 105 
 
 magistrates would admit, perhaps, that this is what 
 they seek to bring about. But it is, surely, a most 
 dangerous precedent that licensing benches thus should 
 be authorized, not merely to interfere with that principle 
 of freedom of contract upon which our commercial 
 success as a nation is largely based, but also to attempt 
 to regulate the course of trade according to their own 
 individual ideas. It is inconceivable that the British 
 Parliament ever clearly realized, when it passed the 
 Act of 1902, that it was giving authority to magistrates 
 to do such things as these ; yet done they are, and the 
 practice is even steadily growing.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 ' MANAGED ' HOUSES 
 
 THE managerial system first established in Liver- 
 pool about fifty years ago has been subjected to much 
 adverse criticism from time to time. It represents, 
 however, merely one phase of those ordinary com- 
 mercial conditions of to-day under which companies, 
 firms, or even individual traders in a large way of 
 business, open a number of establishments in different 
 towns, or in different parts of one and the same town, 
 for the sale of boots, drapery, drugs, bread, milk, 
 grocery, refreshments, tobacco, or other commodities, 
 placing each in charge of a manager, who receives a 
 stated wage, and is liable to dismissal for inefficiency, 
 misconduct, or breach of regulations. One well-known 
 grocery firm, for instance, has alone 560 branches. 
 The disappearance of the small shopkeeper thus 
 brought about may be a cause for regret, but, on the 
 other hand, many a small trader or many a person 
 who might otherwise have become a small trader has 
 found it to his advantage to discard the idea of doing 
 business on his own account, and become instead the 
 manager either of some large establishment or of a 
 local branch thereof. Yet in these other businesses 
 no one thinks of regarding such a person as unsuitable 
 or unfit, or of proposing that his employers should be 
 
 106
 
 THE CHOICE OF MANAGERS 107 
 
 dispossessed of their property in order that he may be 
 installed as owner. 
 
 It is only in a certain class of public-houses that 
 the managerial system can be adopted that is to say, 
 houses where the business done is sufficiently large to 
 allow of the payment of a manager's salary, indepen- 
 dently of the net profits. In small houses, where the 
 takings are only just sufficient to provide for the sup- 
 port of a man and his family, the tenancy system 
 would naturally be adopted by preference. But, 
 whatever the size of the house, the most scrupulous 
 care is, generally speaking, taken in the choice of a 
 manager. As a rule he enters the service of the com- 
 pany as a second barman, though probably he is not 
 taken on even in that capacity until his character for 
 several years previously has been thoroughly investi- 
 gated. He rises in due course to the position of head 
 barman, and then, after he has had two or three years' 
 experience, and been found thoroughly sober and trust- 
 worthy, it may be proposed to appoint him manager of 
 a small house. Particulars concerning his antecedents 
 are furnished to the police, who make their own in- 
 quiries, and raise objections to his selection if they find 
 any occasion for so doing. Should he show capacity 
 in his management of a small house, he will be pro- 
 moted to larger and still larger houses, and in some 
 instances a manager eventually develops into a tenant 
 of the company he has served. Certain brewery com- 
 panies recruit their barmen and prospective managers 
 from ex-soldiers of ' exemplary ' character, or from ex- 
 policemen, who are especially favoured because they 
 can keep order well, and know better what the police 
 and the magistrates desire. Others encourage steady 
 and trustworthy young men to enter on a subordinate 
 position in the hope of rising to a higher post ; while
 
 108 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 the members of the Birmingham Wholesale Brewers' 
 Association are considering a proposal for setting up 
 a training-school for barmen, where pupils would be 
 instructed in the management of licensed houses, those 
 of them who became proficient being awarded certi- 
 ficates which would be recognized by the trade. 
 
 In regard to the question of remuneration, it is the 
 almost universal practice in the trade that the manager 
 shall be paid a stated wage, and have no interest what- 
 ever in the sales of liquor, though in some towns he will 
 have a pecuniary interest in the sales of food. A few 
 instances might be found in which the managers get a 
 commission on the drink sold, but these are the ex- 
 ceptions that help to establish the rule. Whatever, 
 therefore, the increase (if any) in the business done, the 
 manager does not benefit therefrom. His promotion to 
 a larger house, and also the amount of his Christmas- 
 box, where this is given, will also depend, not on his 
 sales, but on his general efficiency. 
 
 The fact seems to be recognized by most brewery 
 firms that not only would a payment-by-results system 
 be undesirable in principle, but it might, also, be detri- 
 mental even to their own interests, inasmuch as it would 
 offer a direct inducement to a manager, not so much to 
 ' press ' liquor on customers as to shorten the measure, 
 water the whisky, or to do other things which might 
 give him undue profit on his turnover, but would even- 
 tually ruin the credit of the house. Even if these 
 things were not done, any increase in the sales at a 
 particular house by, say, 5 or 10 a week would 
 suggest to the officials of the brewery company that the 
 manager was pushing business unduly by serving 
 drunken people, or encouraging an undesirable class of 
 customers, either of which offences would (owing to the 
 serious risk to the licence) render him liable to instant
 
 SUPERVISION AND CONTROL 109 
 
 dismissal. From no point of view, therefore, has a 
 manager any personal interest in ' pushing ' the sales of 
 liquor, or is he under any incentive so to do. 
 
 The great care in the selection of managers is followed 
 in the case of all large brewery companies, at least 
 by a most thorough- going system of supervision and 
 control. The details may differ somewhat according to 
 the ideas of a particular company or the character of a 
 particular district, but the following sketch of the 
 methods adopted by a certain large provincial brewery 
 company may be regarded as fairly typical of the system 
 in question as a whole. 
 
 At the head of the organization there is a super- 
 intendent who is personally responsible to the directors, 
 with whom he keeps in close communication. Operating 
 under him is a staff of five inspectors, who divide 
 between them, in certain defined districts, the managed 
 houses controlled by the company. Over these houses 
 they must keep close watch and guard, visiting them at 
 such times, day or night, and at such intervals as may 
 seem to them necessary or desirable, but especially 
 paying surprise visits, so that the landlords will never 
 know when to expect them. Their business is, among 
 other things, to see that no serving of drunken persons 
 goes on ; that neither betting nor gambling is permitted ; 
 that everything about the place is, as far as may be, 
 scrupulously clean, comfortable, and in good order no 
 sloppy tables, broken windows, or defective doors ; that 
 the quality of the liquors as sent out from the brewery 
 is maintained ; that the customer gets what he asks 
 for, the substituting of one article for another being 
 prevented ; and that, in effect, everything is exactly as 
 it should be. The inspectors are required to send in 
 daily reports to the superintendent. Alternatively, 
 inspectors may communicate with the head officials by
 
 no 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 telephone or otherwise. Should suspicious circum- 
 stances have been noticed which require confirmation, 
 the services may be called into requisition of certain 
 individuals, known only to the superintendent and a 
 single director, who will pay further visits to the house, 
 and send in confidential reports, on the basis of which 
 the manager may be called upon for explanations, 
 such action being then taken as the circumstances 
 may render necessary or desirable. 
 
 Next to the inspectors comes a staff of stock-takers, 
 who visit each house either once a week or every fort- 
 night. In addition to taking stock, they are required to 
 keep a close look-out for anything to which they con- 
 sider attention should be called, and report thereon to 
 the company. Following the inspectors is a set of men 
 sent out from the technical side of the brewery to test 
 the liquors sold in the houses, in order to see (for the 
 protection of the public) that they have not been 
 tampered with at all. Still further, there is a staff of 
 surveyors and assistants whose attention is at once 
 called to any structural or sanitary deficiencies by 
 the superintendent, acting on the reports of the 
 inspectors, serious defects being, if possible, put right 
 the same day. To complete this elaborate system, 
 periodical visits to the various houses are also paid by 
 the superintendent and one of the directors. 
 
 So, in a managed house, there is not only all the 
 ordinary police control that is exercised over a free 
 house, but there is the very close supervision by the 
 brewery staff as well ; and the brewery inspectors, one 
 must further remember, are exclusively engaged for the 
 purpose, whereas looking after public-houses con- 
 stitutes only one of innumerable duties to be performed 
 by police constables during the time they are on duty. 
 May it not be assumed, therefore, that drunkenness is
 
 EFFECTIVE GUARANTEES in 
 
 much more likely to be kept down, and general good 
 order maintained, in managed than in free houses ? In 
 other words, does not the managed system make for 
 sobriety rather than for inebriety, and could any 
 practicable system of so-called disinterested manage- 
 ment provide more effective checks (in reason) than are 
 already secured under the conditions stated ? It is not 
 surprising that the chief constables in various districts 
 should have borne testimony to the efficacy of the 
 system by declaring that the managed houses in those 
 districts were the best conducted of any. 
 
 One drawback to the position is that, after all this 
 extreme care has been taken by the companies to secure 
 a perfection of good management, licensing magistrates 
 should often be so little sympathetic, and raise such 
 difficulties as they do in allowing the change of 
 managers which the companies, in the exercise of their 
 discretion, and as the result of all this supervision, may 
 think it necessary or desirable to effect. 
 
 The real position of the brewery companies was well 
 expressed in a report presented to quarter sessions 
 some years ago by the Licensing Committee of the 
 Surrey justices, and still true to-day : 
 
 ' Few have greater interest than the brewer in seeing 
 that houses are well constructed. Few have greater 
 experience as to the steps to be taken to secure 
 avoidance of anything like transgression of the law. 
 The fact that complaints are constantly made that the 
 number of transfers is greater with regard to these 
 houses than to others proves how jealously they are 
 watched by the owners, who will not incur the risk 
 involved in the toleration of doubtful or careless 
 managers.' 
 
 There are, however, benches of licensing magistrates 
 who put every difficulty in the way of brewery firms
 
 H2 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 in obtaining interim transfers. Magistrates with pro- 
 nounced confiscatory tendencies frequently seek to 
 retain in possession a licencee with whose conduct the 
 owner is dissatisfied, in order that at the annual 
 licensing session they may bring forward such mis- 
 conduct as a reason for refusing the licence altogether 
 a course they could not so successfully adopt if, in the 
 meantime, there had been a transfer to a man to whom 
 no objection could be offered. Other magistrates, 
 again, make it a rule, under the statutory provisions 
 in operation, to refuse the transfer of a licence oftener 
 than twice a year, owners being thus placed in a very 
 awkward position if a manager whom they have 
 appointed with full confidence in his capacity or trust- 
 worthiness should develop unsuspected bad qualities, 
 or should illustrate the truth of the common experience 
 that a man who gives every satisfaction in a sub- 
 ordinate position may be a failure when raised to a post 
 involving responsibility. This same reluctance on the 
 part of certain magistrates to sanction transfers also 
 renders it more ^difficult for owners to promote efficient 
 men when they think that promotion is deserved. 
 
 There is a popular idea that public-house managers 
 are liable to be discharged if they do not sell sufficient 
 liquor to satisfy the brewers, and the remarks already 
 quoted from Truth were evidently written from this 
 point of view. While, however, the allegation is cer- 
 tainly made by discharged managers, who find it a 
 most convenient explanation of their dismissal to offer 
 to a sympathetic acquaintance, it would probably be 
 found that they had been got rid of for reasons which 
 they entirely misrepresent. If, for instance, it were 
 found by the brewers that the sales at a certain 
 managed house had seriously declined over a given 
 period, as compared with the same period in previous
 
 'PUSHING' (?) THE SALES 113 
 
 years, an inquiry into the reasons would naturally be 
 made as an ordinary matter of business. Such decline 
 might be found to be due to causes for which the 
 manager was in no way responsible ; but it might also 
 be attributed to inefficiency or incivility on the part 
 of that person, or to some attitude towards customers 
 which was rendering him unpopular, and driving trade 
 elsewhere. A change of managers might thus be found 
 necessary. The primary cause for the inquiry leading 
 to such action might have been declining sales, but it 
 would be entirely wrong to say that the manager had 
 been discharged for not sufficiently ' pushing ' the 
 business. The course of procedure here would be 
 identically the same as in the case of the other large 
 traders already mentioned. 
 
 Alternatively, the misrepresentation might arise in 
 this way. A public-house manager's accounts are, 
 naturally, subject to periodical checking, takings and 
 stock in hand being compared with the lists of quanti- 
 ties supplied by the brewers. The experience of the 
 stock-takers enables them to tell with approximate 
 accuracy the relation that the several items should 
 bear to one another, and, although the manager will 
 not be blamed because his sales have not been higher, 
 he may well run the risk of dismissal if the proper ratio 
 between supplies and receipts is not maintained in 
 other words, if the sales he does account for, by the 
 sum he pays over, are much below those that must 
 obviously have taken place. In the event of dismissal 
 following, a man thus capable of appropriating his 
 employers' money would not scruple to allege that he 
 had been turned off 'because the brewers were not 
 satisfied with his sales.' 
 
 That the sale of liquor is ' pushed ' at all is one of 
 those popular delusions on the liquor question which 
 
 8
 
 H4 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 are favoured especially by teetotallers who probably 
 know nothing as to what goes on inside a public-house. 
 The business of the person behind the bar is simply to 
 serve the drinks called for, provided the individual 
 asking for them is sober. That the sales should be 
 forced, or that the barman will urge the excellence of 
 his liquors in the way that a linen-draper's assistant 
 will try to induce customers to buy more than they 
 came in for, is an idea which no one possessed of any 
 real knowledge of the subject will accept for one 
 moment. Not only is the drunkard, who creates dis- 
 order, and may endanger the licence, the publican's 
 worst patron (the risks run by encouraging his custom 
 far outweighing the value of the few additional pence 
 he spends), but even the regular sot, who soaks without 
 getting actually drunk, is looked upon with disfavour 
 by publicans possessed of a due share of common 
 sense. I was much struck by some remarks recently 
 made on this point by the tenant of a large licensed 
 house in a town in Lancashire. He said, in effect : 
 
 'The man who spends too much of his time here 
 during the day in drinking is not the sort of customer 
 we care for. He is neglecting his opportunities and 
 earning no money, so that soon he will have none left. 
 The man we prefer is the one who may take just a 
 glass at dinner-time, but is working steadily during the 
 day, looks in at night, joins pleasantly in the social life 
 of the place, and is likely to be a regular customer 
 without ever going to excess.' 
 
 These very sensible remarks of a typical publican of 
 to-day may fairly be set against the ' pushing-the-sales ' 
 bogey of the typical teetotaller. 
 
 There is another, and almost tragic, side to the 
 question of the dismissal of managers one, namely, in 
 which they are the victims of cruel circumstance rather
 
 RISKS AND RESULTS 115 
 
 than of actual and deliberate misconduct. A police- 
 man may, for example, notice a drunken man leave 
 one public-house, and will follow him down the street 
 until he sees him enter another. Arrived at the bar, 
 the man will pull himself together, and stand perfectly 
 steady for a time (as drunken men can do) while he 
 asks for more drink. As he thus presents none of the 
 appearances of a drunken man, he may very easily be 
 served by the landlord or a barman ; but by the time 
 this has happened the policeman, after waiting outside 
 a few moments, will have entered, and he then finds 
 the man with a full glass before him. The landlord 
 is thereupon summoned for serving a drunken man.* 
 A conviction will probably be recorded against him, 
 and, under these identical circumstances, magistrates 
 have also suppressed the licence of a house incidentally, 
 to the benefit of that other house in the neighbourhood 
 where the drinker in question had really obtained the 
 liquor that made him drunk. But, as regards the 
 manager, this one conviction against him probably 
 brings his career as a public-house keeper to a close. 
 Morally speaking, he may be absolutely blameless ; but 
 if he should trip a second time, the double conviction 
 might afford the magistrates an excuse for closing the 
 house altogether, and where the owners may have 
 invested from 5,000 to 8,000 in the place they can 
 run no risk. The unlucky manager has to go, and the 
 
 * I do not suggest that this practice is a universal one on the 
 part of the police. On the contrary, there is at least one large 
 provincial town where the chief constable has given orders to his 
 men that, if they see an individual already under the influence of 
 liquor enter a public-house, they are to follow him straight in, and 
 say to the landlord or barman, ' Don't serve that man.' The chief 
 constable in question rightly holds that the business of a police 
 force is not so much to entrap offenders as to prevent the commis- 
 sion of offences, and the local publicans declare themselves most 
 grateful to him for the timely warnings they receive. 
 
 82
 
 n6 ' MANAGED ' HOUSES 
 
 probability is that he will never be able to get a 
 position in a public-house again. 
 
 In that case he may be much worse off than a tenant 
 would be in like conditions. The man who becomes 
 tenant of a country public-house often has some trade 
 to which he can take again should he lose his licence, 
 and it may even be that he is working at his trade 
 while his wife looks after the house ; but the average 
 manager will have spent all his life in the public-house 
 business, and has really qualified for nothing else. 
 Instances have occurred in which the manager of a 
 large and important house, losing his post on con- 
 viction for some trivial breach of the licensing laws, 
 has had to become an ordinary labourer in order to 
 earn his livelihood. 
 
 Discussing this phase of the question, the managing 
 director of a large brewery said to me : 
 
 ' It is an awful state of affairs, and we often feel 
 profoundly sorry for the unfortunate victim. But we 
 are practically powerless in the matter. We really 
 cannot run the risk of having what might well be an 
 8,000 penalty imposed upon us by the loss of the 
 licence. The manager's lot is not a pleasant one, and 
 the conditions of service are most responsible ; but, in 
 our opinion, any conviction by the magistrates must 
 necessarily lead to discharge, however much we may 
 think that the man is not really to blame. What we 
 have to consider is, not our own view, but the possible 
 future view or action of the magistrates. The property 
 is too often punished for the fault of some individual 
 who, wilfully or accidentally, disobeys the express 
 orders of his employers.' 
 
 The conditions here referred to are having a further 
 result. Owing to the severity with which the licensing 
 laws are administered, and the serious results of a con-
 
 DISCOURAGING CONDITIONS 117 
 
 viction in the case of a manager who has, say, un- 
 wittingly acted in contravention of the law, there is 
 a steadily increasing reluctance on the part of eligible 
 men to accept public-house appointments, the better 
 class of such men being deterred by dread of the punish- 
 ment falling upon them for some technical breach of the 
 law, committed quite unconsciously, all their prospects 
 in life being thus suddenly blasted. These considera- 
 tions are to be kept in mind by critics disposed 
 to make invidious comparisons between the public- 
 house manager of to-day and the old-fashioned publican 
 of a decade or two ago. The wonder is, rather, that 
 the brewery companies succeed, in the circumstances, 
 in getting as good a type of man as they do. 
 
 A common allegation in regard both to tied and to 
 managed houses is that the brewers make use of them 
 in order to get rid of indifferent qualities of beer. Here 
 it would be rash to generalize, in the way either of 
 affirming or of denying, and it may only be suggested 
 that the possible faults of a few should not be attributed 
 to a class. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that, whether from motives 
 of economy or otherwise, certain firms of brewers 
 especially among those of the smaller type may not 
 obtain such good materials as a firm or company 
 operating on a large scale, and with a reputation to 
 maintain, would do ; and these conditions might lead to 
 the production of inferior qualities, which would find 
 their way to such public-houses as the firms in question 
 controlled. It may also happen that, in spite of the 
 use of the best materials, and of the adoption of the 
 most approved methods, the beer produced by a par- 
 ticular brewer in even the best of establishments will be 
 what is known as ' sick.' Such beer should be kept 
 back in the brewery for a few weeks until it has recovered
 
 n8 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 from its ' sickness,' when it will be really fit to send out ; 
 and any brewer who refrained from adopting this course 
 when the contingency arose would certainly be acting 
 contrary to his own interests. 
 
 Brewers, however, are of two types : the long-headed 
 and the short-sighted. 
 
 The long-headed are careful to get the best materials ; 
 they avoid the economies which it is very easy to effect by 
 reducing the gravity of the beer, knowing, as they do, 
 that such reduction would inevitably lead to loss of 
 reputation ; and, for a like reason, they give instructions 
 to tenants, managers, and customers that if, by chance, 
 a barrel of beer not of Jhe right quality should be sent 
 to them, they are to return it to the brewery at once. 
 Of the head of one large provincial brewery firm it is 
 told that he made a practice of himself going to the 
 houses supplied, testing the beer, and ordering back 
 anything that did not satisfy him. ' One bad barrel,' 
 he was in the habit of saying to the tenant or manager, 
 ' will ruin your trade for a week.' 
 
 The short-sighted brewers are those who think more 
 of immediate profit than of reputation, so that while it 
 may be an advantage to one publican to be ' tied ' to a 
 large firm of * long-headed ' brewers, whose name is a 
 sufficient guarantee for the excellence of their liquor 
 and the fairness of their dealings, it may be a dis- 
 advantage to another publican to be ' tied ' either to 
 a short-sighted firm, or to one that cannot afford good 
 materials, and can never sell sufficient of its products 
 to secure anything like a satisfactory business. The 
 British working-man may, as a rule, be safely trusted to 
 recognize any serious deterioration in the quality of the 
 ' national beverage,' and, if any choice be open to him 
 at all in any particular neighbourhood, he will desert 
 the house where the liquor is not to his liking and
 
 THE QUESTION OF QUALITY 119 
 
 go elsewhere. In country districts and small towns the 
 actual choice may be limited ; but in large towns this 
 would not be the case, and there, at least, the competi- 
 tion is so keen that any idea of reducing the quality 
 would be impracticable. The aim there is, rather, to 
 keep on improving the quality as far as can be done 
 without unduly increasing the cost, the fact being fully 
 recognized that the success of a firm of brewers is 
 always in strict proportion to the excellence of the 
 product. 
 
 So it comes about that, whereas in some few parts of 
 the country ' tied ' houses are certainly regarded with 
 prejudice by customers, in others they are distinctly 
 popular, and even preferred, because of their association 
 with brewers whose well-established beverages the public 
 regard with favour, while in the case of a ' free ' house 
 there is not the same guarantee that the occupant may 
 not yield to the temptation of getting cheap and inferior 
 qualities should he happen to be ' a short-sighted publi- 
 can.' Some ' free ' publicans, however, have the signs 
 of leading firms of brewers fixed on their houses by way 
 of advertisement, and as a recommendation to prospec- 
 tive customers who associate excellence of quality with 
 a certain name. 
 
 In regard to the aforesaid 'smaller' brewers, of limited 
 resources, it should be borne in mind that, while the 
 cost of production may be increased, by reason of the 
 heavy taxation or of a rise in the cost of materials, there 
 is no chance of advancing the established prices paid 
 by the consumer for the manufactured article. In these 
 circumstances a brewer of the smaller type, who cannot 
 afford any reduction in profits already small, may find 
 himself forced to adopt economies which will affect the 
 quality of his product to the inevitable prejudice of the 
 customer, inasmuch as that individual is much more
 
 120 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 likely to suffer from bad beer than from good. Each 
 additional burden imposed increases the tendency in this 
 direction, and renders it still more difficult for a brewer 
 of the type in question to produce the same qualities of 
 beer as, in other circumstances, he would probably be 
 glad enough to supply either to ' tied ' houses or ' free.' 
 
 The reader will see from this impartial statement of 
 facts how the story as to the distribution of inferior 
 qualities of liquor through ' tied ' houses has probably 
 originated ; but to say that the practice is widespread, 
 or even common, would be going far beyond the truth. 
 Though a landlord may be ' tied,' the public are not ; 
 and as long as keen competition continues, people will 
 readily withdraw their patronage from one house, where 
 they are served with bad or inferior liquor, and go to 
 another should there be one within a reasonable 
 distance where they can get what they want. The 
 idea that the average public-house patron will swallow 
 uncomplainingly whatever is put before him is an 
 altogether baseless fiction. The sale of bad liquor must 
 inevitably lead to the loss of trade. A public-house 
 that gets an unfavourable reputation for its drinks can 
 hardly hope to thrive, and the brewers who have 
 invested capital in the place are bound to suffer, sooner 
 or later. To suggest that practices such as those 
 alleged prevail to any really great extent is to imply 
 that brewers, as a class, are devoid of ordinary business 
 instinct. 
 
 Another allegation in regard to tied and managed 
 houses specially referred to by the writer of the article 
 in Truth, mentioned in the last chapter is that the 
 only business of tenants or managers is to get rid of as 
 much of the brewer's beer as they possibly can. But no 
 one who visits some scores of public-houses of all types 
 in different parts of the country, as I have recently
 
 SUPPLY OF FOOD 121 
 
 done, can fail to be struck by the almost general pro- 
 vision made therein for the supply either of meals or of 
 light refreshments, as well as of the orthodox liquors. 
 I use the words ' almost general ' because, in many 
 instances, there is no call for food, and here it would 
 be a waste of money to lay in stocks not likely to be 
 required. But there is abundant evidence of a willing- 
 ness to cater for public requirements in the matter of 
 food whenever it is called for. I found in country or 
 seaside districts that, in rebuilding primitive inns on a 
 larger scale, the owners had provided their tenant with 
 large and commodious tea-rooms, although they, as 
 brewers, would derive no direct benefit from the teas sup- 
 plied. In the case of managed houses I found that, as 
 a rule, ample provision was made for the supply of just 
 such food as was likely to be required, according to 
 local conditions. 
 
 In practice the system in force varies considerably. 
 In some districts the whole of the catering is done for 
 the brewery company as a part of the ordinary business 
 of the house. In others I found that, where there was 
 any demand for meals, the brewery company arranged 
 to supply them at their own risk and to their own benefit ; 
 but in the case of small houses they left the manager 
 and his wife to do the catering, with authority to keep for 
 themselves whatever profit was thus made by them on 
 the food. In still another district I became acquainted 
 with a brewery company controlling some hundreds of 
 houses who require all the managers of houses in the 
 neighbourhood of factories to provide dinners or what- 
 ever food is wanted, furnish cooking appliances, table- 
 linen, knives and forks, etc., but allow the managers 
 (who are left to do the buying) to keep for themselves 
 all the profits arising from such food- supply, and even 
 guarantee them against loss. This latter contingency,
 
 122 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 I was told, had only arisen in the case of a large club 
 dinner, while some of the managers gained for them- 
 selves 255. a week profit out of the catering, in addi- 
 tion to their wages, those who succeeded least still 
 getting dinners for themselves and helpers out of the 
 food provided, thus saving the allowance made by the 
 company. In such examples as these one seems to get 
 a full realization of ' disinterested management,' since 
 the managers are deprived of all personal concern in 
 the sales of liquor, but do have a direct incentive to 
 ' push ' the food, or, at least, to show the greatest readi- 
 ness in supplying what is wanted. But although, in the 
 case in question, the company derive no direct benefit 
 from the supply of meals or of food, they disclaim any 
 suggestion that they are assuming the role of philan- 
 thropists. They look at the matter from a business 
 point of view, saying that the provision of good whole- 
 some food at essentially popular prices adds to the 
 goodwill of the house, and brings a better connection, 
 so that it really pays them to encourage the system 
 they have adopted. 
 
 Generally speaking and especially in the case of 
 public-houses in the neighbourhood of docks, as at 
 Liverpool or the Tyne, or of large works in manu- 
 facturing towns the first duty of the earliest barman 
 in attendance is to have hot coffee ready by the time 
 he opens the doors, and this, surely, should count as a 
 temperance measure. In all such localities, too, there 
 will be rooms specially set apart for the supply of cheap 
 and substantial food for labourers and other workers. 
 In Liverpool, for instance, I saw large plates of ' hot- 
 pot ' being supplied in such rooms at twopence per head, 
 with a free supply of pickles, the customer paying for a 
 glass of beer in addition, if he wished for one. Then 
 fourpenny or sixpenny dinners, well cooked, and sufn-
 
 CHEAP MEALS FOR WORKERS 123 
 
 cient for a meal for any average person, I found to be 
 quite an institution in both tenanted and managed 
 houses in various parts of the country, the glass of beer 
 taken with them being sometimes included, but more 
 often regarded as an extra. For customers able to pay 
 higher prices special arrangements were made in other 
 rooms or in other houses ; but I am here more espe- 
 cially concerned in the provision made for the feeding 
 of the working classes. 
 
 In this connection it is no exaggeration to say that 
 the labourer or artisan gets better food, at a lower rate, 
 in the average ' managed ' public-house than he would 
 get at the ordinary cheap restaurant conducted by an 
 individual trader. A brewery company owning many 
 houses would be able to make a better contract for the 
 supply of meat ; they would see that the cooking ar- 
 rangements were adequate, and, as they would not be 
 dependent on the takings from food for their profits, 
 they could afford to sell at lower charges than those of 
 a person otherwise situated. I do not hesitate to affirm 
 that many even of the most unpretending of the public- 
 houses I visited in the dinner hour, in the neighbour- 
 hood of docks or factories, were conferring a distinct 
 advantage on the working men of the district in the 
 facilities they offered for the supply of good nourishing 
 food at extremely low prices, or in the provision of 
 rooms where men could consume the food they had 
 brought with them, washing it down with the glass of 
 beer which no one could conscientiously assume to be 
 doing them any harm. I even found places where 
 labourers could have their food cooked for them, and sit 
 at a table on which mustard, salt, and even pickles were 
 provided free, the only direct gain to the ' house ' being 
 such profit as was possible on the sale to them of just a 
 single glass of beer each. In other examples that came
 
 J24 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 under my notice men brought in their dinners when 
 they passed the house on their way to work in the morn- 
 ing, and had them kept warm until dinner-time, no 
 charge being made for the service thus rendered. One 
 felt that the compulsory closing of such houses under 
 some prohibition scheme or other would impose a most 
 serious inconvenience, if not a positive injustice, upon 
 the toilers who were using, but in no way abusing, them. 
 There was, in fact, overwhelming evidence that the 
 various houses in question were of great practical utility, 
 and supplying a real public want in the particular 
 localities in which I found them. 
 
 The one factor in the situation which limits the 
 power of the publican to supply food with liquor to 
 an even greater extent than he is doing already is the 
 general reluctance of licensing magistrates to allow of 
 alterations which would involve any increase of the 
 licensed area. The addition to existing buildings, not 
 merely of a dining-room, but even of extra kitchen 
 space for the cooking of meals, is often practically 
 impossible, by reason of this disinclination to permit 
 anything in the way of 'enlargement,' though some 
 benches of magistrates are much more considerate in 
 the matter than others. 
 
 Finally, I come to the disputed question whether, in 
 regard to public-houses owned or controlled by brewers, 
 the tenancy is preferable to the managerial system, or 
 vice versa. Opinions are much divided. There are 
 benches of licensing magistrates in London and else- 
 where who will not recognize managers at all (though 
 the practice of appointing them is clearly sanctioned 
 by the law), and insist on dealing with tenants only. 
 There are others as at Birmingham who offer no 
 objection to managers. But the question is tending to 
 settle itself. Just as the ' old-fashioned ' free publican
 
 TENANTS V. MANAGERS 125 
 
 got uneasy as the animosity shown towards him increased 
 and the attitude of governments and politicians became 
 more threatening until he was glad to sell out to the 
 brewery companies and avoid further risk so, in turn, 
 are tenants becoming more and more reluctant to put 
 much of their own money into the business. Men who, 
 ten or twenty years ago, would willingly have invested 
 "1,000 in a public-house, hesitate to do so to-day. When 
 they see that the whole situation is full of uncertainties, 
 and that licences may be forfeited, under the existing 
 severe administration of the licensing laws, for offences 
 which a decade or two back would have been punished 
 by fine only, they think it better to keep on the safe 
 side. They may take a "10,000 house, but they prefer 
 to work as far as they can with the capital of the 
 brewery company. If they should possess money of 
 their own, they generally try to conceal the fact. 
 
 In these particular conditions there are disadvantages 
 from the standpoint not only of the brewers, but also of 
 the public. The short-term tenant who has invested 
 very little of his own money in a house may prove to 
 be a ' dangerous ' person. His aim will probably be 
 to make as much money as he can while he has the 
 opportunity, and he will thus run risks, or allow things 
 to be done, which would not be tolerated in a managed 
 house. Should he bring about the suspension of the 
 licence, he suffers but little loss himself, and he may, 
 perhaps, take again to the trade he followed before he 
 became a licencee. The tenant, on the other hand, 
 who puts a goodly sum of his own into the business 
 is a much more cautious person, and will probably be 
 most careful to keep well within the four corners of the 
 law. 
 
 It is the latter who constitutes the ideal tenant ; but, 
 under the conditions already narrated, he represents
 
 126 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 a steadily-diminishing quantity. In effect, therefore, 
 the actual choice has often to be made between, on 
 the one hand, a tenant who cannot, or will not, invest 
 much money in a house, who wants to make what he 
 can out of the business, who runs the risks spoken of 
 and resents too much supervision, and, on the other, 
 a manager who is a servant of the brewery company, 
 has no financial interest in the amount of liquor sold, 
 can run practically no risk at all without fear of detec- 
 tion and dismissal, and, generally speaking, is under 
 a system of supervision by his employers far more 
 efficient than the control of public-houses in general 
 by the police. In these circumstances it is all the 
 more striking that there should be benches of licensing 
 magistrates who still insist on dealing exclusively with 
 'tenants,' and will not accept managers at all as licencees. 
 Whatever view may be taken, from an academic 
 standpoint, of the respective advantages or otherwise 
 of tenanted and managed houses, in actual practice the 
 latter system is being increasingly resorted to, except 
 in those districts where the former is compulsorily 
 maintained by the licensing magistrates. Failing (for 
 the reasons stated) tenants of a desirable class, brewery 
 companies may well think it wiser to send their own 
 manager to a house rather than allow it to pass into 
 the hands of a person in whom they cannot feel com- 
 plete confidence. Their own manager may sell less 
 liquor than a tenant of the type here indicated would 
 do ; but, with such managers, and with such control as 
 that which is enforced, there will be a greater guarantee 
 for a strict observance of the law, and a greater security 
 also for the full maintenance of the value of the property. 
 The present tendencies, therefore, seem to point to a 
 further development of the managerial system, where 
 this is still practicable.
 
 SOME PERSONAL VIEWS 127 
 
 There is, I believe, a certain divergence of opinion even 
 in the trade itself in respect to this question of managed 
 houses, and I do not wish to commit anyone to an 
 endorsement of the views I here venture to express. 
 But there are certain conclusions to which I have been 
 led by such inquiries on my own account as I have been 
 able to make, and these I beg to offer for whatever they 
 may be worth. 
 
 1. I think that licensing magistrates should allow 
 the system of managed houses to corne into operation 
 in London (where to-day it hardly exists), as it is 
 already in successful and satisfactory operation in other 
 parts of the country. As I have shown, there is great 
 and increasing difficulty in getting tenants who, in 
 addition to being personally capable and trustworthy, 
 are willing to invest much money of their own in a 
 business that has become the subject of so much attack, 
 and the tenant who has himself very little at stake is 
 not likely to show that scrupulous carefulness which 
 the circumstances require. By refusing to recognize 
 managers, and insisting that licences shall be given 
 only to tenants, magistrates adopting this course run 
 the risk of bringing about conditions still less desirable 
 than those they seek to avoid. The whole question turns, 
 not upon the relative advantages, from a theoretical 
 standpoint, of two different systems, but upon the actual 
 factors and possibilities of the existing situation. 
 
 2. Every facility should be given to the brewery 
 companies to change an unsatisfactory man. The 
 hard and fast rule made by some benches of magis- 
 trates that they will not sanction the transfer of the 
 licence of a particular house oftener than twice a year 
 may be to the serious prejudice not alone of the 
 brewery company, but of the public, if the second holder 
 should unexpectedly prove to be, in spite of previous
 
 128 'MANAGED' HOUSES 
 
 careful inquiry, a wholly unsatisfactory person, of whom 
 it is impossible to get rid until the following year. 
 
 3. The licence is, theoretically, given to the house ; 
 but if the landlord be convicted of, for instance, serving 
 a drunken man, it is a wholly unreasonable procedure 
 to deprive the house of the licence, as though, in effect, 
 the house itself was no longer required in the neigh- 
 bourhood. If the holder of the licence is convicted of 
 breaking the law, it may be only right that he should 
 be punished. But why punish the house as well ? 
 Why impose a penalty representing many thousands 
 of pounds on the brewers, who, as I have shown, may 
 have been most scrupulous in their efforts to maintain 
 the proper management of the place ? Why also punish 
 the local residents who have been using the house, and 
 in whose interests presumably the licence was originally 
 granted ? The whole situation is a mass of inconsis- 
 tencies, as illogical as they are obviously unjust. 
 
 4. The licences of houses owned by brewery com- 
 panies should be held jointly by the tenant and by the 
 secretary of the company. Not only would this arrange- 
 ment facilitate changes in the occupancy, but if the 
 actual tenant committed some offence which led to the 
 conclusion that he, individually, should no longer be 
 allowed to conduct the place, the licence would not be 
 lost, the secretary of the company assuming all respon- 
 sibility until a new occupant could be found. In a 
 system such as this, there would be an element of 
 common justice and fair play which is entirely lacking 
 in the other.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 THE average unprejudiced person would assume that, 
 after 400 years of legislative endeavour to regulate the 
 trade in those alcoholic beverages which, in one form 
 or another, have been in vogue since almost the 
 earliest days of the creation of man, it was about time 
 some definite settlement was reached. But no British 
 Government, apparently, is happy unless it can include 
 a new Licensing Act among its parliamentary achieve- 
 ments, whilst the ever-active and so-called ' temperance ' 
 party, inspired mainly by such exaggerations as those I 
 have dealt with in Chapter IV., is ever looking forward 
 to the time when the nations will not merely become 
 ' temperate ' (for the word ' temperance ' is really 
 equivalent only to ' moderation '), but will be forced, 
 by Act of Parliament or otherwise, to abandon the use 
 of alcoholic beverages altogether. 
 
 From the point of view of the ' temperance ' advocate 
 (it is difficult to avoid the use of the misnomer), all 
 roads are regarded as leading, sooner or later, to pro- 
 hibition. Reduction in the number of houses, shorter 
 hours, increased restrictions, time limit, and all the 
 other suggested reforms or changes, may do very well 
 to be going on with, but the one great aspiration ever 
 kept in^mind is the attainment of prohibition. It is 
 true there has been a certain cleavage in the ranks of 
 
 129 9
 
 130 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 British teetotallers on this particular subject. While 
 the United Kingdom Alliance maintains its original 
 programme, and will be content with nothing but total 
 suppression of the liquor traffic, a newer section, 
 ranging themselves under the banner of the Temperance 
 Legislation League, and presenting to the world a long 
 list of names of influential people as supporters of their 
 views, maintain that 'the effective prohibition of the 
 sale, manufacture, and importation of intoxicating 
 liquors is not practical politics here and now,' and they 
 strenuously advocate rather a scheme of ' disinterested 
 management,' the aim of which is ' to eliminate, as far 
 as possible, personal and private interest in the retail 
 sale of drink.' Evidently the ' disinterested manage- 
 ment ' party would like to have prohibition if they could 
 get it, but they see no chance of doing so ' here and 
 now ' ; so they wish first to achieve the carrying out of 
 their own scheme, which might, perhaps, facilitate the 
 complete or, at least, the partial realization of the 
 ultimate aim. 
 
 The position being as thus described, it is a matter 
 of special importance to glance, however briefly, at the 
 results of prohibition in those countries where it has 
 already been adopted. This I propose to do in the 
 present chapter, and, subsequently, I shall deal with 
 some of the various forms of what I think may be called 
 ' modified prohibition ' at home ; with ' no-licence ' in 
 New Zealand ; and then with ' disinterested manage- 
 ment,' especially from the point of view of experiences 
 in Norway, in conjunction with the establishment in 
 the rural districts there of the prohibition policy. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 In no country in the world has prohibition had a 
 longer and more thorough - going trial than in the
 
 A RECORD OF FAILURE 131 
 
 UnitecT States. In no country has the failure of pro- 
 hibition been more absolute and convincing. Massa- 
 chusetts adopted the system as far back as 1852, made 
 several modifications subsequently, revoked it in 1867, 
 and in 1889 defeated a prohibition constitutional 
 amendment by a majority of 46,000, an exhaustive 
 investigation by a legislative commission having shown 
 that prohibition was a great cause alike of intem- 
 perance, corruption, and general demoralization. New 
 Hampshire, after indulging in the prohibition idea since 
 1855, defeated, in 1883, by a majority of 5,000, a pro- 
 position to embody it in the State Constitution, follow- 
 ing this up by obliterating prohibition altogether from 
 her Statute Book a few years ago. Michigan adopted 
 prohibition in 1856, gave it a thirty-one years' trial, 
 and then rejected it by a great majority. Connecticut, 
 Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, and Rhode Island have also 
 tried the system, found it wanting, and thrown it over ; 
 while prohibition has further been repudiated by Wash- 
 ington, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, 
 Texas (where the majority against was one of 90,000), 
 West Virginia, Vermont, and South Dakota. To-day 
 it is in force in three States only Maine, Kansas, and 
 North Dakota. 
 
 In effect, actual experience of prohibition showed 
 that it did not, and could not prohibit, and that it 
 produced worse evils than those it sought to remedy. 
 Citizens did not see why they should abandon the use 
 of alcoholic beverages simply because their neighbours 
 had voted that they ought to ; and when the legislation 
 sought to enforce the law that followed the vote, they 
 saw no moral offence in still getting their liquors if 
 not openly, then secretly. They learned to disregard 
 the law, to treat it with contempt, to take a pride in 
 circumventing injunctions they thought unreasonable, 
 
 92
 
 I 3 2 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 and to drink more, very often, than if they had been 
 left alone. 
 
 Meanwhile, too, the attempts at repression greatly 
 checked the consumption of lager beer. This beverage, 
 introduced into the United States, had been received 
 there with much favour ; but, on account of its greater 
 bulk, it did not lend itself so readily to the purposes of 
 illicit trade as the more potent spirits. These, conse- 
 quently, for a time, almost entirely supplanted the con- 
 sumption of the much less intoxicating beverage. 
 
 In the early colonial days Governor Oglethorpe, of 
 Georgia, established breweries with the idea that 
 ' cheap beer was the only means to keep out rum.' 
 Later legislators began to upset his policy by favouring 
 the spirits, on which greater revenue could be raised ; 
 but it was really left for the prohibitionists to establish 
 the final supremacy of spirits over beer. What was 
 worse still, they even drove the production of spirits 
 more and more into the hands of unscrupulous persons, 
 who supplied their victims with vile decoctions not far 
 removed from absolute poison. In Portland (Maine) 
 one such drink went by the especially significant name 
 of ' Kill-'em-quick.' 
 
 That prohibition degenerated into a farce has long 
 been known to all the world, but a few illustrations 
 may be offered as suggesting the sort of thing that 
 went on. 
 
 In his ' Experiences of Prohibition in the United 
 States, Canada, etc./ Sir Thomas R. Dewar says : 
 
 In 1892, when travelling through a prohibition State, I tried the 
 conductor of the Pullman-car very hard for some whisky, but it 
 was, ' No, boss ; can't do it. We are in a prohibition State, and 
 all the bars are locked up.' At length, weary of being worried, he 
 informed me that I might get it at the store at the next stopping- 
 place. This I did. Going in, I boldly asked for a bottle of whisky. 
 ' Have you a doctor's certificate ?' was the query. ' No. J ' Then I 
 can't sell you any ; but I guess some of our cholera mixture '11
 
 EVADING THE LAW 133 
 
 about fix you.' The assistant then, explaining what excellent stuff 
 it was, wrote on a label, ' Cholera Mixture. A wineglassful to be 
 taken every two hours, or oftener if required.' This was put on 
 the side of a quart bottle, on the other side of which was a very 
 familiar label to me, for the mixture happened to be a bottle of my 
 own whisky ! 
 
 The following I take from an article contributed 
 to the Vossiche Zeitung, in 1903, by Mr. M. v. Brandt, 
 recording his experiences of prohibition and high 
 licence during a tour through Canada and the United 
 States : 
 
 When, in 1896, I was travelling by train from Vancouver to 
 Toronto, the head waiter came into the restaurant car whilst we 
 were at dinner and called out, ' Gentlemen, we shall be passing 
 through a prohibiton State to-morrow, and those who wish to have 
 beer, wine, or whisky, must buy it to-day.' We took the hint, and the 
 next day we had our drinks as usual, notwithstanding that we were in 
 a prohibition State. A fortnight later I sat in a small hotel in New 
 York which had been specially recommended to me as akind of family 
 hotel, and I asked fora bottle of red wine. The waiter shrugged his 
 shoulders, and said the licence cost so much that it was not worth 
 while to get one during the summer, when there were but few visitors. 
 On my asking if someone could not get a bottle for me, he replied, 
 ' Yes, from a large hotel in the neighbourhood ; but you will have to 
 pay something more for it.' I agreed, and I had wine or beer each 
 day as long as I stopped in the hotel, although the place had no 
 licence. I had a third experience in 1901, when going by train 
 from New York to Buffalo. At lunch I asked for some beer, and 
 was told that in New York State no liquor could be supplied on the 
 Sunday. Remembering previous experiences, I sent for the head 
 waiter, and I asked him rather sharply if he had forgotten that I 
 had arranged the previous night for some beer. He looked some- 
 what disconcerted for a moment, then began to laugh, and said : 
 ' For anyone as cute as you we can always find something.' The 
 beer came along all right, although it was contained in a metal 
 teapot, and had to be drunk out of teacups. Some people who sat 
 at an adjoining table had also, apparently, ordered tea the pre- 
 vious night. 
 
 The general results of the system were thus summed 
 up, in 1906, by the Rev. Edward H. Newbegin, Rector 
 of the Episcopal Church in Bangor (Maine) : 
 
 I feel impelled to say that the net result of two generations of a 
 prohibitory law in Maine is prohibition nowhere, a measurable
 
 134 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 degree of restriction in some of our smaller communities, with a 
 general disregard of the law in larger places throughout the State. 
 The negative results have been an appalling crop of perjury, hypo- 
 crisy, and general contempt for law, and for ghastly moral pretence 
 the name of our loved State has become a byword from Massa- 
 chusetts to California. 
 
 Then the Waterville (Maine) Sentinel for June 28, 
 1906, denounced in bitter terms the operation of what 
 is known as ' Amendment Five,' which became part of 
 the constitution of the State of Maine in 1885, and is 
 to the following effect : 
 
 The manufacture of intoxicating liquors, not including cider, and 
 the sale and keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors, are, and shall 
 be, for ever prohibited. Except, however, that the sale and keep- 
 ing for sale of such liquors for medicinal and mechanical purposes 
 and the arts, and the sale and keeping for sale of cider, may be 
 permitted under such regulations as the Legislature may provide. 
 The Legislature shall enact laws with suitable penalties for the 
 suppression of the manufacture, sale, and keeping for sale of in- 
 toxicating liquors, with the exceptions herein provided. 
 
 The Sentinel declared, among other things, that this 
 amendment had been a dead-letter for twenty years; 
 that fines had been substituted for the penalties of the 
 law, and a form of licence adopted ; that nullification 
 and contempt for constitutional law had been for 
 twenty years the object-lesson to young men ; that 
 ' it has developed perjury, lying, pocket-peddling, and 
 has relegated the bar-room to the poorer sections of 
 our cities, where it is a terrible menace to the boys 
 and girls who deserve better environments ' ; that 
 ' more rum, and of an infinitely poorer quality, has been 
 sold in Maine in the past twenty years than in any 
 similar population in New England '; that ' constitu- 
 tional prohibition has been the hobby of the politicians 
 now in the saddle in this State, and under it the rum- 
 seller and the man of God have been marched arm in 
 arm to the polls '; and that ' it has been a complete
 
 A HYPOCRITICAL FARCE 135 
 
 failure, and is so recognized by the business men of the 
 State. The people can't trust the police department, 
 the Sheriff can't trust the police, and the Sturgis Com- 
 mission can't trust the Sheriffs.' 
 
 Still more recently Mr. E. N. Bennett, M.P., in an 
 article contributed by him to the Nineteenth Century 
 and After, in January, 1907, under the title ' A Tem- 
 perance Town,' gave an account of a visit he had paid 
 to Portland (Maine), which has long had the reputation 
 of being one of the best possible examples of a pro- 
 hibition city. Mr. Bennett said in the course of his 
 article : 
 
 During the week I was there no fewer than fifty-eight arrests for 
 intoxication took place, and the average for the year actually 
 amounts to between forty and fifty per week, which in a population 
 of 60,000 works out for Portland to about forty per 1,000 inhabitants 
 per annum /.<?., three times as bad as our worst drinking centres, 
 the seaport towns and mining counties, six times as bad as London, 
 and nine times as bad as our manufacturing towns. According, 
 also, to the last available statistics (1898-1899), the arrests at Bangor 
 number 46 per 1,000, Augusta 29, Bath 31, Lewiston 29, while 
 Gardiner reaches the appalling total of 69 per 1,000 ! Such statistics 
 cannot, it is true, be cited as absolutely conclusive evidence in 
 these cases, for they do not cover all the ground ; but, after all, 
 they form practically all the available data we possess for compari- 
 sons between one town and another, and they certainly lend sup- 
 port to the view of practically every ordinary level-headed citizen 
 one meets that the prohibition law is in many respects a hypo- 
 critical farce as far as the larger towns are concerned. 
 
 At Bangor, it seems, it is perfectly easy to purchase 
 drink, and at Lewiston the sale of alcohol from the 
 laxly-conducted agency amounts to something between 
 1,200 and 1,500 dollars weekly. Mr. Bennett con- 
 tinued : 
 
 Amongst those members of the community less able to resist 
 temptation, drunkenness is quite as rife in the towns of Maine as 
 in non-prohibition areas. Nor must it be forgotten that any well- 
 to-do citizen of Portland, Lewiston, or Bangor who belongs to a 
 social club can quite easily drink a whisky-and-soda upon the pre-
 
 136 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 mises whenever he cares to. And this easy evasion of the spirit of 
 the prohibition ordinance really establishes the evil principle of 
 'one law for the rich and another for the poor.' 
 
 Finally, the worst feature of the whole system is the low tone of 
 public morality which seems to result from it. Hypocrisy is the 
 keynote of the situation. Drink is prohibited, but drunkenness is 
 horribly patent. The secretary of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association told Sir Thomas Whittaker three years ago that he 
 had never seen a glass of spirits in Portland, and yet at that moment 
 he could have walked into thirty saloons and purchased whisky 
 over the counter in broad daylight. . . . This hypocrisy translates 
 itself into a recognized system of personal blackmail. Politics in 
 Portland are, so to speak, saturated in alcohol ; all other questions 
 of social reform sink into insignificance, and are subordinated to 
 the one all-absorbing topic the conditions under which this muni- 
 cipal hypocrisy is to be carried on. 
 
 These comments and condemnations are merely 
 typical of a vast amount of testimony which might be 
 advanced in support of the contention that prohibition 
 in the United States has been something worse than 
 a failure. It should, however, be borne in mind that 
 in the United States there is a tendency to pass laws 
 not so much because there is any real idea of observing 
 them as because it ' looks well ' to have them on the 
 Statute Book, while the fact that they are there is 
 regarded as something to the credit of the community. 
 A typical example of this practice occurred in a small 
 town of about 3,000 inhabitants in Florida. The local 
 populace voted in favour of prohibition, and the town 
 'went dry.' But the leading saloons were at once 
 turned into 'clubs,' of which their former patrons 
 became ' members.' They paid a subscription of 
 100 dollars, in return for which each of them received 
 15-cent coupons to the amount of such subscription. 
 When a member wanted a drink he merely put down 
 the necessary number of coupons, and, when more 
 funds were wanted by the club, a further call of 
 10 dollars per member was made, in return for which 
 there was a reissue of coupons. The farce was not
 
 THE SCOTT ACT 137 
 
 continued for long, however, the law becoming a dead- 
 letter soon after it was passed. 
 
 But, even taking the States where prohibition has 
 had a full and fair trial, its failure as either a legal or 
 a moral force has been complete, and the conditions of 
 such failure in the United States leave no reasonable 
 ground for expecting that it would be a success in the 
 United Kingdom. 
 
 CANADA. 
 
 In 1878 the Canadian Parliament passed the Canada 
 Temperance Act (better known as the Scott Act), which 
 enabled any county or city adopting it by a simple 
 majority of the electors to prohibit, under heavy 
 penalties, the sale of liquor within the district for local 
 consumption. When adopted the Act remains in force 
 for three years. At the end of that period it may again 
 be submitted to the vote, on a petition signed by 
 one-fourth of the electors, and repealed should there be 
 a majority against it. Readily adopted at first, it was 
 found, before many years had elapsed, that the Act was 
 a complete and admitted failure. The general result, 
 where it was tried, appears to have been, according to 
 the testimony of Professor Goldwin Smith, 
 
 the substitution of an unlicensed and unregulated for a licensed 
 and regulated trade. The demand for drink remained the same, 
 but it was supplied in illicit ways. It was found by those who 
 were engaged in the campaign against the Scott Act that the 
 lowest class of liquor dealers were far from zealous in their opposi- 
 tion to prohibitive legislation. They foresaw that the result to them 
 would be simply sale of liquor without the licence fee. Drunken- 
 ness, instead of having diminished, appears to have increased. 
 
 Professor Goldwin Smith further quotes from a 
 memorial signed by 300 citizens of Woodstock, saying : 
 
 The Scott Act in this town has not diminished but has increased 
 drunkenness ; it has almost wholly prevented the use of lager beer ,
 
 138 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 which was becoming an article of common consumption ; it has 
 operated to discourage the use of light beverages, substituting 
 therefor in a large measure ardent spirits ; and it has led to the 
 opening of many drinking-places which did not exist under the 
 licence law, and to the sale of liquor being continued until hours 
 after midnight. 
 
 From other towns it was reported that, under the 
 operation of the Act, the number of places where 
 liquor was sold had increased rather than decreased ; 
 that, owing to the persecution of the regular traders, the 
 business was thrown into the hands of the worst classes 
 of people, including bottle hawkers and the keepers 
 of low dens ; that cases of drunkenness among young 
 people were becoming deplorably frequent ; that spirits 
 were generally taking the place of beer, wine, or cider, 
 because they contained a larger percentage of alcohol 
 in a small bulk, and could therefore be more easily 
 smuggled ; that the spirits, sold by the lowest type of 
 dealers, were of the most pernicious kind ; that people 
 drank the more deeply because they drank in secret ; 
 that anybody who wanted drink could get it ; that 
 perjury and blackmailing had become rife ; and that 
 people adopting sneaking habits were losing respect 
 both for themselves and for the law. 
 
 The electors had, in effect, been ' morally dragooned 
 by a powerful organization and strong ecclesiastical 
 influence into voting for the Act.' But they could not, 
 apparently, be dragooned into total abstinence as well, 
 and having voted for the Act, they seemed at once to 
 have set themselves to consider how best they could 
 evade its provisions. In 1887 the Act was in force in 
 sixty-two places in Canada, but within five years of 
 that date the total was reduced to thirty. All the 
 counties and cities of Ontario which adopted the Scott 
 Act (and they represented three quarters of the entire 
 province) abandoned it, most of them at the earliest
 
 DISREGARDED LAW 139 
 
 possible opportunity. It lingered on elsewhere, but 
 was not adopted in any city or county which had not 
 tried it before, and the members of the Royal Com- 
 mission on the liquor traffic in Canada said in their 
 report (1895) that, ' in short, the law as an aggressive 
 weapon has been abandoned.' 
 
 All the same, local attempts at total or partial 
 prohibition have been made in different parts of the 
 Dominion, and the prohibition sentiment there is, un- 
 doubtedly, still very keen. But the actual situation 
 was well summed up by a writer in the Daily News of 
 September 26, 1902, when he said : 
 
 It is a rare thing to see any wine, malt liquor, or other intoxicant 
 on a dinner-table in Canada. A good deal of drinking goes on, 
 but not in the open. ... In Canada legislation has got ahead of 
 public opinion on the drinking question. The law in most of the 
 provinces is so stringent that it is generally disregarded not 
 openly, but with only a pretence of disguise. 
 
 The actualities of the position are further described 
 in the following letter, which appeared in the Hertford- 
 shire Express of July 14, 1906 : 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I do not know why your paragraph on prohibition in the 
 Saskatchewan district of the Great North- West should come in 
 the column devoted to ' Local Notes and Notions,' but, having 
 been in that province within the last few weeks, I can give my 
 impressions from what I have heard and seen. 
 
 Prohibition is generally voted in new territories when there are 
 few inhabitants but Indians, as a sort of tribute to virtue ; but as 
 soon as the land begins to fill up with a white population and the 
 towns multiply, it is quietly dropped in practice, if not in principle, 
 and is followed by a kind of local option which usually leads to a 
 system of licensing of some sort or other. The law against selling 
 liquor to Indians is, however, in the North-West strictly enforced 
 by the mounted police and the Indian Commissioners. I know of 
 two brewers in the adjoining province of Alberta, near the Saskat- 
 chewan boundary both, by the way, owned by Hertfordshire men 
 who are at the present time doubling their plants. They brew a 
 very similar beer to that brewed in England, and it can be had at 
 almost every town and at the ' meal ' stations on the railways.
 
 140 PROHIBITION ABROAD 
 
 Everyone in Canada would wish to see an end put to the sale of 
 bad spirits, 'perfumes,' etc., but the executive power of the Govern- 
 ment is so weak, owing to the vast extent of the country, that in 
 most localities the attempt has been abandoned. The smuggling 
 of illicit supplies over the border is only ' almost possible ' in 
 theory, as is also the case of the prohibition States of the Union. 
 I know of a brewer in the State of New York who owned to sending 
 many cartloads of beer into the State of Maine under the name of 
 ' Mixed Pickles.' 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 SAM LUCAS. 
 
 To this testimony I may add that, during the con- 
 troversies waged on the general subject in Canada in 
 1902, Principal Grant declared that the more varied 
 his experience, and the longer his life, the more im- 
 partial his study of conditions under prohibition enact- 
 ments, and the more mature his reflections on the 
 springs of human action, the more convinced he was 
 ' that the prohibitionists are on the wrong tack, and 
 that they have been, and are, doing more harm than 
 good, especially to the cause of temperance. The 
 men,' he continued, ' who use either malt or fermented 
 or distilled liquor soberly, as all God's gifts should be 
 used, or the men who, like myself, do not use them as 
 beverages for one reason or another, but always for a 
 reason which appeals to their sense of duty, and which 
 does not bind anyone else, save in so far as it appeals 
 also to his reason and conscience these are temper- 
 ance men.' 
 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Nor does prohibition seem likely to prove any greater 
 success in Australia, judging from the following com- 
 munication published in the Daily Chronicle of 
 January 31, 1907, from the Melbourne correspondent 
 of that journal : 
 
 Liquor trade reformers in Great Britain, who pin their faith to 
 ' no-licence' or prohibition, will find small encouragement for their
 
 POSITION AT MILDURA 141 
 
 cause in recent developments in the one prohibition district, Mil- 
 dura, on the Murray River, in Australia. Prohibition has proved 
 such a farce that a colonial wine licence has just been granted for 
 the township, and an agitation is growing in favour of a municipal 
 hotel. The fact is that prohibition must always be a farce so long 
 as clubs live ; and though Mildura has no public-house, it has 
 plenty of easily entered clubs. 
 
 On December 7 a remarkable report was presented to the Vic- 
 torian Board of Public Health recording the impressions of a Dr. 
 Robertson, who paid an official visit to Mildura as an inspector. 
 In this document Dr. Robertson says : 
 
 ' Mildura is peculiar in that it possesses no hotels. The visitor 
 finds accommodation at a boarding-house, or, if he be staying a 
 few days only, at the coffee palace, which corresponds to the 
 ordinary commercial hotel in a country township. Mildura is a 
 hot, dry, and dusty place, and in warm weather one naturally 
 develops a thirst. The water-supply of the town being unsatisfac- 
 tory as regards quality, one must quench one's thirst elsewhere. As 
 the coffee palace does not attempt to cater for one's wants in the 
 matter of temperance drinks, the visitor is practically forced to 
 avail himself of the existence of clubs. 
 
 ' There are three clubs holding licences to sell liquors to their 
 members, permanent and honorary. The Mildura Club is main- 
 tained principally by the townsmen ; the Settlers' Club is supported 
 mainly by orchardists ; while the Working Men's Club explains 
 itself. There is no haughty exclusiveness about these clubs. The 
 members appear to be anxious to extend the right hand of good 
 fellowship to all comers, so that no man need go athirst. No pro- 
 vision is made, however, for the refreshment of the woman visitor, 
 who must content herself with water not above suspicion or 
 with warm soda-water. 
 
 ' It will thus be seen that Mildura cannot be regarded as a pro- 
 hibition settlement. As a matter of fact, liquor is more accessible 
 in Mildura than in places where hotels are licensed, and at much 
 cheaper rates. Consequently, the usual method of ascertaining 
 liquor consumption by the cost is not applicable to this alleged 
 prohibition settlement. From a visitor's point of view a well-con- 
 ducted hotel, under municipal control, would be infinitely prefer- 
 able to a coffee palace plus clubs.'
 
 PENDING any rash experiments in the United Kingdom 
 in regard to prohibition on the American plan, we have 
 had various forms of what may be called a modified 
 prohibition in the shape of Sunday closing, early closing, 
 and holiday closing, so that we are not entirely without 
 experience as to what may follow from attempts to 
 effect compulsory abstinence from alcoholic beverages. 
 Have the results thus achieved been sufficiently en- 
 couraging to warrant further endeavours in the same 
 direction ? 
 
 I deal first with Scotland, inasmuch as that country is 
 the one included in the British Isles where compulsion 
 on the lines stated had the best chance of success. 
 Whereas in England the Legislature has not gone 
 beyond restricting the number of hours during which 
 public-houses shall be open on Sunday, in Scotland 
 complete Sunday closing has been enforced since the 
 passing of the Forbes Mackenzie Act in 1853, so that 
 Scotsmen have become accustomed to such interference 
 with their liberties as the Act in question applies, and 
 might be thought more amenable to further curtail- 
 ment than English people with no like experience. On 
 the other hand, one must remember, in regard to 
 Sunday closing in particular, that the average Scot is 
 
 142
 
 EARLY CLOSING IN SCOTLAND 143 
 
 a more scrupulous observer of the Sabbath than the 
 average Englishman, and that his favourite drink, 
 whisky, would keep better, if bought on the Saturday 
 for home consumption on the Sunday, than would the 
 national beverage of the Englishman beer. 
 
 If the temperance party in Scotland had been con- 
 tent with the conditions thus brought about, they 
 would have shown their discretion rather than their 
 zeal. But they allowed the latter to prevail over the 
 former, and in 1903 secured the passing of a new 
 Licensing Act for Scotland, which came into force on 
 January 1, 1904. Under this Act the licensing authori- 
 ties of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen 
 had the option given to them to fix the hour of closing 
 at 10 p.m. on week-days instead of n p.m. as pre- 
 viously, and (among other things) the licensing magis- 
 trates of Scottish cities and towns generally were 
 empowered to follow up Sunday closing by enforcing 
 complete or partial closing on a specified number of 
 holidays not exceeding four per annum, in addition to 
 New Year's Day. 
 
 The earlier closing was adopted in May, 1904, in the 
 four cities mentioned, and ten o'clock thus became the 
 hour for closing in important cities such as Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow, as well as in the smallest of Scotch 
 villages, although in the former there is naturally con- 
 siderable street traffic to a much later hour. 
 
 As regards results, official statistics in respect both 
 to Edinburgh and to Glasgow show that under the 
 operation of the ten o'clock rule there has been an 
 increase rather than a decrease in actual drunkenness, 
 while it is undeniable that since this rule came into 
 force there has been a still further multiplication of 
 bogus clubs, shebeens, and drinking dens of all descrip- 
 tions, of which a considerable number had already been
 
 144 MODIFIED PROHIBITION AT HOME 
 
 brought into existence, more especially as a means of 
 evading the compulsory Sunday closing in Scotland. 
 The fact, however, that in Edinburgh 1,026, and in 
 Glasgow 1,177 special permits were granted during 
 1905 to public-houses in those cities to keep open later 
 than ten o'clock is in itself a significant proof that this 
 very early closing is in disaccord with the actual re- 
 quirements of the community. 
 
 By way of illustrating local views as to the effects of 
 the new rule, I cannot do better than quote the following. 
 
 The Scottish Weekly Review, in an article published 
 May 26, 1906, said : 
 
 It is in the matter of drunkenness that there is the greatest 
 falling away, and extremists in temperance reform who have of 
 late had things mainly their own way are confronted with the 
 failure of their rigorous schemes. Early closing is apparently 
 worse than useless, and it cannot be gainsaid that the magistrates 
 responsible for licensing matters have not proved equal to the 
 responsibility entrusted to them. Faddism is not reform. In 
 Manchester there is no early closing, and the percentage of 
 drunkenness is 57 per 1,000 ; in Glasgow the percentage is 18*3. 
 Surely it is time common sense had an innings ; and there are 
 temperate methods even of dealing with temperance reform. 
 
 The Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, May 24, 1906, said: 
 
 A few days ago we directed attention to the evidence afforded 
 by the weekly police-court returns of the increase of cases of 
 drunkenness in Glasgow, an increase which upset certain Church 
 reports which represented the state of things as being all well, 
 because certain public men had referred to a wave of temperance 
 as passing over the land. There has been no such wave of 
 temperance in either Glasgow or Edinburgh, but it may be doubted 
 if our General Assemblies will trouble themselves about it. ... 
 Yet the excessive drunkenness of Glasgow and Edinburgh is gross, 
 open, palpable ; it is considerably greater than the drunkenness of 
 less-restricted English towns, and immensely greater than the 
 drunkenness of the much freer cities of the Continent. Are our 
 repressionists oppressed by such facts ? Not a bit of it. What do 
 they care for constabulary statements that ' there is more drunken- 
 ness in Glasgow ' ? The only effect is to provoke further demands 
 not only for additional restrictions in Glasgow, but for further 
 curtailment of the rights and liberties of Glasgow's neighbours.
 
 'A MISERABLE FIASCO' 145 
 
 As in Edinburgh, the curtailment of the hours of opening of 
 licensed premises has led to a great increase in special licences, 
 in arrests in disorderly houses, and in that extraordinary substitute 
 the ' special licence.' 
 
 Then the Scotsman of July 3, 1906, stated : 
 
 Believers in the restriction of the hours of licensed houses as 
 a corrective of the drinking habits of the country will find the 
 quarterly police statistics of Edinburgh a tough morsel to digest. 
 The ten o'clock closing rule has now been in operation in the city 
 for a couple of years. . . . But, altogether contrary to promise, 
 crime, especially as represented in the police charge sheets by 
 cases of drunkenness, has kept mounting briskly upward, quarter 
 by quarter. The record for the first quarter of the present year 
 was bad enough in all conscience. That for the second is, how- 
 ever, much worse. The number of apprehensions by the Edinburgh 
 police during the three months that closed on Saturday was 3,742. 
 This is an increase of nearly 400 over the figures for the first quarter 
 of the year. That quarter surpassed the total for the same period 
 of 1905 by over 100 apprehensions. But the latest figures show an 
 increase of not far short of 500 over the corresponding period of 
 last year. There were 773 ' drunk and incapables' and 1,031 ' drunk 
 and disorderlies' taken into custody in the second quarter of 1906, 
 as compared with 694 of the former and 971 of the latter class of 
 offenders in the second quarter of 1905. . . . If any faith is to be 
 placed in figures, the course is downwards, and at a steady and 
 accelerating rate of speed. Early closing has certainly not arrested 
 this deplorable movement. Has it done anything to hasten the 
 descent ? The police figures seem to speak clearly to this effect. 
 
 Finally, on this point, a writer in the Glasgow Record 
 declared : 
 
 Ten o'clock closing has had a very fair trial, and the result is 
 a miserable fiasco, and there is no reason why the respectable law- 
 abiding portion of the community should be penalized and put to 
 inconvenience on account of those who become amenable to police 
 supervision. If our magistrates have been attending to the police 
 statistics, they must of necessity perceive that the restriction of the 
 hours of public-houses has in this instance failed to reduce drunken- 
 ness, and it is to be hoped that, in view of what the Lord Provost 
 of Edinburgh has been saying, our magistrates will reconsider the 
 question and restore the status quo at the first opportunity. 
 
 Still more conspicuous has been the failure of total 
 holiday closing in Scotland. Taking advantage of the 
 powers granted to them under the new Act, the Glas- 
 
 10
 
 146 MODIFIED PROHIBITION AT HOME 
 
 gow justices ordered, in 1905, that on the occasion of 
 the Spring Holiday, April 24, the public-houses of the 
 city should be closed for the entire day. The result 
 was thus described in the Glasgow Evening News of 
 April 25 : 
 
 What happened yesterday at Paisley, Cambuslang, and else- 
 where, as a result of the closing of the Glasgow public-houses is a 
 forcible demonstration of the futility of a policy of simple prohibi- 
 tion. The only effect of that policy was to transfer the drinking 
 from our own precincts to the surrounding communities, and, in so 
 doing, to aggravate the very evil we desired to avoid. There is no 
 need to dwell on the details of an unfortunate business. But there 
 is clearly something wrong with a 'temperance' measure which 
 merely results in turning loose hordes of people, clamouring for 
 drink, upon our neighbours, inundating them with an alien invasion 
 of a kind against which they have every right to protest, and 
 destroying the peace of the country-side and the pleasure of others 
 seeking enjoyment of a more innocent nature within a wide radius 
 of the city. By such a policy we averted no evil if anything, 
 we made it worse than it would otherwise have been we merely 
 transferred a nuisance from our own shoulders to those of the 
 surrounding communities and the travelling public. 
 
 A further experiment on the same lines was made on 
 the occasion of ' Fair Saturday ' at Greenock, on July 8, 
 1905, when all licensed premises in Greenock and Port 
 Glasgow were closed for the day. In this case the rush 
 for ' reasonable refreshment ' was to Gourock. Accord- 
 ing to the Glasgow Evening Times, it began shortly after 
 8 a.m., and continued all day. Men had to be stationed 
 outside the public-houses to regulate the traffic, but 
 this was so difficult of accomplishment that the houses 
 in Shore Street closed at three o'clock in the afternoon, 
 as the only way to keep out the crowd. The police 
 cells were full early in the afternoon, and 'thereafter 
 drunks were allowed to sprawl at large on the sea-front.' 
 Commenting on the situation, the Glasgow Evening 
 Times remarked : 
 
 The folly of attempting to keep intemperate men sober and sober 
 men thirsty on a public holiday has received one more illustration.
 
 HOLIDAY CLOSING 147 
 
 It might be successful in a village ten miles away from anywhere, 
 and without railway or steamer facilities. But in the case of Glasgow 
 andGreenock the experiment has merely exhibited the crass stupidity 
 of those who devised it. It has not kept the intemperate man sober, 
 and obviously it has made drunkards, for the day, of many thousands 
 of people who, in ordinary circumstances, would have enjoyed their 
 holiday, and a reasonable amount of liquor, in a sane and orderly 
 way. 
 
 The Glasgow magistrates adhered to their all-day 
 closing policy alike at the autumn holiday of 1905 and 
 on New Year's Day, 1906. On the former occasion 
 there was again a general exodus from Glasgow to sur- 
 rounding places. So dense was the crowd going to 
 Paisley that during some parts of the day fifty electric 
 tramcars were running per hour, and it was estimated 
 that 40,000 persons visited Paisley alone. At Cambus- 
 lang three public-houses were closed at 3 p.m., some 
 closed at 8 p.m., while others allowed their patrons to 
 come in and go out in batches. The justices seem at last 
 to have been convinced of the futility of their action, for 
 on the occasion of the autumn holiday in 1906 they 
 abandoned total closing, and only restricted (to six) the 
 hours during which the houses should remain open, 
 thus giving both to Glasgow residents and to Glasgow 
 visitors reasonable facilities for obtaining what they 
 wanted. This time there were no unseemly rushes to 
 suburban areas, and there was no drinking to excess 
 merely out of bravado, and as a practical protest against 
 unreasonable regulations. All-day holiday closing is 
 hardly likely to be tried in Scotland again ! 
 
 Nor did a like experiment made at Belfast, on Christ- 
 mas Day, 1905, prove a greater success than the Scottish 
 fiasco. The enforcement for the first time of all-day 
 closing within the city led to the inevitable rush to the 
 suburbs beyond the three-mile limits. An extra service 
 of tramcars had to be run ; jaunting-cars were at a pre- 
 
 10 2
 
 148 MODIFIED PROHIBITION AT HOME 
 
 mium ; people who would have been satisfied with a 
 moderate amount of liquor in ordinary circumstances 
 now drank to excess ; publicans who had increased their 
 stock six-fold found their supplies exhausted by three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, one of them selling no fewer 
 than 250 dozen bottles of stout ; while, in the words of 
 the Daily Telegraph's Belfast correspondent, * as the day 
 advanced drunken men became painfully prominent, 
 and the scenes witnessed were disgraceful. Young men 
 and old lay on the roadside in a state of helpless intoxi- 
 cation, and hundreds staggered homewards in a maudlin 
 condition.' 
 
 In Wales Sunday closing has been in force since 1881, 
 and the most conspicuous result to which it has led is 
 to be found in the considerable increase in the number 
 of drinking clubs and shebeens in the Principality. So 
 far back as 1895 the Stipendiary Magistrate at Cardiff, 
 in commenting on the large number of these places to 
 be found there, and on the numerous prosecutions 
 which had taken place, went on to say : 
 
 It is not my province to seek the cause for, or to trace the origin 
 of, the illicit drinking establishments of Cardiff. If the cause be 
 a harsh or too arbitrary a limitation of the time during which liquor 
 may be obtained legitimately on licensed premises, the Legislature 
 may so relax the law as to remove the temptation to resort to 
 unlicensed premises. If the difficulties in suppressing the illicit 
 traffic in liquor at Cardiff are due to defects in the law which can 
 be remedied without interference with the convenience, comfort, or 
 liberty of the people, it is to be hoped that, in the interests of good 
 order and for the removal of a public scandal, a remedy may be 
 found and applied. It is not for me to propose a remedy, but to 
 state what is proved by daily proceedings in this court namely, 
 that on the day when licensed nouses are closed there is a demand 
 by a large section of the community for intoxicating liquor, and 
 that that demand is supplied at clubs and shebeens. 
 
 In 1881, the year in which the Welsh Sunday Closing 
 Act came into operation, the prosecutions in Wales for 
 illegally selling intoxicating drinks were 237. Two years
 
 SUNDAY CLOSING IN WALES 149 
 
 later the number had risen to 403 ; in 1892 it was 562 ; 
 and in 1898 a maximum of 679 cases was reached. 
 The figure declined to 415 in the following year, and 
 has continued to decline since, being 112 in 1905. But 
 even this lowest figure of all represents a large propor- 
 tion of the 261 prosecutions in England and Wales, in 
 1905, for illicit sales of liquor, and it appears larger still 
 when we remember that the population of Wales is less 
 than one-twentieth of the whole. Taking two adjoining 
 counties, Glamorgan in Wales, and Monmouthshire in 
 England counties of an approximately similar type 
 it is significant that in the former, where Sunday closing 
 prevails, there were in 1905 no fewer than 91 prosecu- 
 tions for illicit sale, while in the latter, where Sunday 
 opening for a fixed number of hours is in force, there 
 were no prosecutions at all in that year. Nor does the 
 decline in the number of prosecutions in Wales neces- 
 sarily imply that there has been a corresponding decline 
 in the practices indulged in by the populace. As for 
 convictions for drunkenness, I leave the reader to 
 appreciate the significance of the following little table, 
 which gives the annual averages of such convictions 
 per 100,000 of the population for two Welsh and two 
 English counties which may fairly be contrasted : 
 
 1878 to 1882. 1905. 
 Brecon ... ... ... ... 664 656 
 
 Glamorgan ... ... ... 771 1,161 
 
 Monmouth ... ... ... 734 549 
 
 Hereford ... ... ... 507 250 
 
 Proportion per 100,000 for Wales in 1905 ... 841. 
 
 England in 1905 ... 630. 
 
 The conclusion to which I am led by all these facts 
 and considerations is that partial prohibition, so far as 
 it has been tried at home, has been no greater success 
 than the attempts at complete prohibition in the United 
 States, and that reasonable regulation, which still affords
 
 150 MODIFIED PROHIBITION AT HOME 
 
 to people due opportunity for satisfying actual require- 
 ments, is much more likely to produce good results and 
 to promote the public interests than undue restrictions. 
 
 There is, however, another form of modified prohibi- 
 tion which finds much favour in this country, and that 
 is the one known as ' local option.' Here again we get 
 a proposed measure which, in the view of its chief advo- 
 cates, would be only a stepping-stone to an eventually 
 full and complete prohibition ; and one should not leave 
 out of sight the fact that it is advocated mainly by an 
 organization which was established in 1853 with the 
 avowed object of securing ' the total and immediate 
 legislative suppression of the traffic in intoxicating 
 liquors as beverages.' In the year 1907 this word 
 ' immediate ' strikes one as singularly out of place, 
 considering that the body in question has now been 
 actively at work for over half a century, and has got 
 but very little, if at all, nearer to its ultimate goal than 
 it was when it started. What it has done, mainly, has 
 been to effect a certain change of front. The idea of 
 ' total suppression ' met with so cold a reception from 
 practical statesmen of the day that the leaders of the 
 movement adopted the alternative of partial suppression 
 instead. They maintained their original aspiration, 
 but limited the scope of their present activities. In 
 place of immediate suppression they now seek, rather, 
 to obtain what has been happily described as ' prohibi- 
 tion by instalments,' and one of the most important of 
 these instalments is local option. 
 
 Dealing with the proposal on its merits, I should say 
 that, as a matter of principle, a majority of the inhabi- 
 tants of a particular locality have no more right to 
 dictate arbitrarily to a minority what particular beverages 
 they shall drink than they have to lay down what kind 
 of viands they shall eat. If to take a glass of beer,
 
 LOCAL OPTION 151 
 
 wine, or spirits were a crime, or contrary to the public 
 welfare, then interference by the majority would be 
 warranted. In that case, indeed, it would be the 
 function of Parliament to act and stop the practice, 
 instead of leaving the people to decide the matter by 
 ' local option.' The principle is, however, still more 
 open to criticism because it would not affect those 
 classes of the community who, having ample means, 
 would be able to lay down supplies of liquor in their 
 cellars so that they could help themselves, whenever 
 they desired, to the beverages they would not allow 
 their poorer neighbours to buy in small quantities from 
 a licensed trader. If it be contrary to the public interests 
 that a working man should purchase a glass or a jug of 
 beer from a publican, it should be still more so for the 
 merchant or the manufacturer to get a case of wine 
 from a wholesale dealer. Should the one be stopped, 
 why not the other ? If local option is to be enforced, 
 why not have local option all round ? If a middle-class 
 neighbourhood is to vote on the suppression of the 
 working man's public-house, why should not a working 
 class locality be allowed to vote on the suppression of 
 the rich man's wine-cellar ? Unless this were done, 
 we should get class legislation of the most invidious 
 character. Provided that the working man's public- 
 house be subjected to such control as to prevent abuses 
 inimical to the public welfare, this is all that the cir- 
 cumstances of the case really call for. 
 
 Then, in actual practice, there must obviously be 
 some limitation to the powers of local self-government 
 possessed by any particular community. Such powers 
 may well have to be curtailed where they involve incon- 
 venience to others. Towns, suburbs, and hamlets do 
 not exist for themselves alone, and the last word in 
 regard to the places of refreshment to be found there
 
 152 
 
 has not been said when the actual residents in the 
 neighbourhood have expressed their views thereon. 
 There are highways leading to great cities where the 
 village inn of some in itself insignificant hamlet is 
 a great and substantial convenience to the streams of 
 traffic constantly passing along. There are country 
 resorts which, while having a very small residential 
 population, are visited in the summer by thousands of 
 motorists, cyclists, beanfeasters, and others, who mostly 
 regard the local taverns as their headquarters for the 
 time being. One might even point to the City of 
 London, where the resident population is about 25,000, 
 and consists mainly of caretakers, the million or so of 
 people entering it every day and wanting food and 
 drink in some form or other while they are there 
 mostly dwelling in homes beyond the city boundary. 
 To say that in any one of these instances the wishes 
 of the majority of the ' local residents ' are to prevail in 
 the matter of providing hotel or public-house accom- 
 modation would be altogether absurd. 
 
 Local option would, in effect, enable a handful of 
 people, merely because they happen to reside in a neigh- 
 bourhood, to disregard, from purely selfish motives, the 
 actual needs of thousands of others who happen to live 
 elsewhere. The whole principle is absolutely wrong 
 and impracticable. There might be some excuse for 
 it if the British nation consisted of a group of strictly 
 isolated communities, whose members never required to 
 pass through the boundaries of their neighbours, though 
 even then the question as to the rights of a majority to 
 control the daily habits of a minority would arise. But, 
 looking at the actualities of the situation, and looking 
 especially at the ever-increasing traffic and general 
 movement going on all through the country, the crudities 
 of the local option movement are so self-evident that it
 
 A JUDGE'S PROTEST 153 
 
 is difficult to conceive how anyone with any claim to 
 broad-minded views, to say nothing of actual states- 
 manship, can regard them as coming within the range 
 of practical politics. 
 
 By way of concluding this chapter I might add, in 
 regard to the general question of prohibition, that on 
 December 4, 1906, there was a meeting at the Old 
 Hall, Lincoln's Inn, of the Royal Courts of Justice 
 and Legal Temperance Society, at which the licensing 
 reform programme of the Temperance Legislation 
 League was discussed ; and on that occasion Mr. 
 Justice Bargrave Deane, who presided, said : 
 
 He had supported for many years a society which aimed at 
 temperance. It began by persuasion. The members of it under- 
 took never to take intoxicating drink except at meals. That put 
 a stop to all nipping, and kept men from bodegas and wine and 
 spirit shops. He had been struck and annoyed by the way in 
 which some temperance reformers went beyond the views of the 
 general body of people. They publicly stated that their object was 
 not only temperance, but prohibition. If they continued to do this 
 they would alienate many earnest supporters of temperance reform. 
 The nation would never agree to such a proposition, and the 
 advocacy of prohibition would stir up feeling which would alto- 
 gether impede the cause of temperance. Temperance meant the 
 avoidance of the abuse of drink ; abstinence meant avoiding its 
 use. His opinion was that it would be a grievous mistake to make 
 ever)' human being an abstainer by Act of Parliament.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE NO-LICENCE MOVEMENT IN NEW 
 ZEALAND 
 
 A CONSIDERABLE degree of importance attaches to the 
 special phases which local option has assumed in New 
 Zealand, not only because of their effect on the social 
 and economic conditions of the Colony itself, but also 
 because the particular example set there is already 
 being closely followed in New South Wales (under the 
 Liquor Act of 1905), and is, apparently, being regarded 
 in Great Britain also as something worthy of emulation. 
 
 For the beginning of the movement in New Zealand 
 we have to go back to the year 1881, when Mr. (after- 
 wards Sir) William Fox, the prohibitionist Premier of 
 those days, obtained the adoption of a Licensing Act, 
 the main object of which was to enforce a system of 
 local option. The Colony was divided into some 395 
 licensing districts, in each of which the ratepayers 
 were to elect licensing committees, empowered to say 
 whether the number of licences therein should or should 
 not be increased, and to administer the licensing laws 
 generally. At first the elections of these committees 
 took place annually, but under a further Act, passed in 
 1889, they became triennial. 
 
 Down to the early nineties the cause of sobriety was 
 making good progress in New Zealand, and the Regis-
 
 ELECTORAL POLLS 155 
 
 trar-General of the Colony drew special attention to the 
 decrease of drunkenness and to the spread of temper- 
 ance. But meanwhile the teetotal party had greatly 
 increased their strength, and fresh action was resolved 
 upon. While some of the more advanced sections 
 would gladly have promoted a policy of prohibition, 
 the more moderate contingent thought that direct pro- 
 hibition would have still less chance of success in New 
 Zealand than in the United States, and that it would 
 be wiser to try to secure eventually the same result, in 
 piecemeal fashion, in other ways. There were others, 
 again, who professed to have no desire whatever to 
 prevent the consumption of intoxicants in domestic or 
 social circles, but were opposed to the licensing of 
 public bars for their sale. 
 
 Eventually there was passed, in 1893, an ' Alcoholic 
 Liquors Sale Control Act,' which reduced the number 
 of licensing districts from 395 to 62 (afterwards slightly 
 increased), made these to correspond with the electoral 
 districts of the Colony for the election of members to 
 the House of Representatives, and enacted that, on the 
 occasion of the triennial parliamentary elections, a 
 further poll of the electors should be taken on the three 
 following questions : (i) Whether the existing number 
 of publicans' licences shall continue ; (2) whether the 
 number shall be reduced ; (3) whether no publicans' 
 licences at all shall be granted. If an absolute majority 
 of all the electors recording their votes is in favour of 
 continuance, then the existing licences are to remain in 
 force until the next poll, a three years' tenure being 
 thus given to the holders, provided they are guilty of 
 no misconduct in the interval in regard to management. 
 If there is an absolute majority in favour of reduction, 
 then the licensing committee of the district concerned 
 is required to reduce the number of existing licences by
 
 156 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 not less than 5 per cent, and not more than 25 per 
 cent. If the votes in favour of no licences being 
 granted amount to three-fifths of all the votes recorded, 
 then no renewals whatever are to take place. Should 
 no one of the three proposals be carried by the pre- 
 scribed majority, or should fewer than one-half of the 
 voters on the register have recorded their votes, no 
 change (subject to the good conduct of the licence- 
 holders) is to \>e made before the next poll. 
 
 If, again, a district should already have declared in 
 favour of no-licence, the vote is taken on the twofold 
 issue of restoration or non-restoration of licences, a 
 three-fifths majority being required to carry the former. 
 In the event of there being such majority, the houses 
 previously deprived of licences may have a chance of 
 getting them back ; but they have none other than a 
 moral claim to first consideration among the applicants 
 for licences, and even then there is no certainty that 
 the constituency may not again change its mind, 
 and revert to no-licence at the end of another three 
 years. 
 
 General elections in New Zealand are usually held in 
 December, and in practice the electors, on entering the 
 polling-place, find there two returning officers, from 
 whom they receive polling papers of different colours, 
 one being in respect of the parliamentary election, 
 while the other relates to the local option poll. A 
 policeman is in attendance to see that the papers, after 
 being filled up, are placed in the right ballot-box, 
 according to their colour. 
 
 The fact that in 1893 women were admitted to the 
 franchise in New Zealand invested the local option poll 
 with exceptional interest, and the female electors, in 
 exercising freely their newly -acquired rights, soon 
 showed that they felt much more concern in this local
 
 FIRST RESULTS 157 
 
 option question than they did in the political problems 
 involved.* 
 
 At the first local option poll in 1894, under the Act 
 of 1893, one of the sixty-two districts, Clutha, voted in 
 favour of no-licence, and Clutha has maintained that 
 policy ever since. At the next poll, which took place 
 in 1896, no proposal was carried in ten districts (the 
 majority in four of them in favour of no-licence was 
 inadequate), and ' continuance ' was carried in fifty- 
 two. In 1899 a greatly increased activity was shown 
 by the teetotal party, who then had an actual majority 
 in favour of no-licence in sixteen districts ; but four 
 polls were declared void, and in only one district, 
 
 * On this particular aspect of the question, I quote the following 
 from a letter from Auckland, New Zealand, signed 'Emily Nicol,' 
 which appeared in The Times of August 18, 1906, under the heading 
 of ' The Women's Suffrage Movement,' the main purpose of the 
 letter being to show that the concession of the franchise to the 
 women of that Colony has been far from an unmixed blessing to 
 them : 
 
 ' The New Zealand Herald of July 2 comments upon the very 
 large number of women voters who went to the poll last December, 
 no fewer than 174,615 out of 212,876 qualified to vote availing 
 themselves of the privilege. But it must be remembered that the 
 real issue of female franchise is not political, but the local option 
 poll. The voting resolves itself into a serious battle between the 
 two factions the " trade " and prohibition ; all other results are 
 completely sunk to the furthering of these t\vo issues, so that the 
 vote is not exercised at its full value, nor for the principal reason 
 for which it was granted. If you could understand the tremendous 
 pressure brought to bear by either party at election times by their 
 respective canvassers, the wonder is there are so many voters absent 
 from the poll. While a candidate may send canvassers round in 
 his own interests prior to the polling day, he may safely leave the 
 issue upon that day entirely in the hands of the local option 
 canvassers in bringing voters to the booth ; he could neither add 
 nor take from the result of votes polled ; he receives his votes 
 according to his prohibition or " trade " views. Although having 
 taken the most active interest in connection with the franchise ever 
 since its inception and in a letter which I received from our deeply 
 lamented Premier at the last election he said I had little to learn 
 in election matters I would vote to-morrow for female franchise 
 to be erased from our Statute Book,
 
 158 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 Clutha (as before), was no-licence actually carried, 
 although one other Oamuru voted reduction. In 
 1902 reduction was carried in nine districts, and no- 
 licence in six ; but in respect to three of the latter the 
 poll was, on appeal, declared void. 
 
 At each of these latter polls there had been a sub- 
 stantial increase in the number of votes recorded, and 
 it became evident that a most vigorous fight would 
 come off in the contest of 1905. In Newtown, where 
 no-licence was carried in 1902, but declared void on 
 appeal, the teetotal party conducted an almost con- 
 tinuous campaign from that date down to the 1905 
 elections. In other districts they began the more 
 active form of their agitation six months or so in 
 advance of the polling, the services of prohibitionist 
 speakers from England or the United States being 
 engaged for the purposes of the propaganda ; while a 
 considerable body of supporters gave weekly subscrip- 
 tions of threepence, sixpence, or a shilling towards 
 defraying the expenses. Prophecies were freely in- 
 dulged in that at the 1905 elections big victories would 
 be secured by the Prohibitionist party, some of whom 
 then seemed to regard the liquor traffic of the Colony as 
 practically doomed. 
 
 But by this time the liquor interest had been fully 
 aroused to the necessity of a policy of self-defence. In 
 the earliest polls the attitude of most of the members 
 of the trade was one of comparative indifference. They 
 did not think the campaign against them would be 
 likely to assume really serious dimensions; they re- 
 garded their capital as reasonably safe; and though 
 it was admitted a few of them might be prejudiced, the 
 remainder did not consider their own interests gravely 
 endangered. But on seeing the results of the polls in 
 1902, when, as already stated, reduction was carried in
 
 EFFECT ON THE TRADE 159 
 
 nine districts and no-licence in six (though upheld only 
 in three), they began to change their views and con- 
 solidate their forces. The actual losses then already 
 sustained by the trade, as the direct outcome of the 
 local option policy of the Colony, were estimated at 
 no less than 500,000, and there had been no attempt 
 made to offer the slightest compensation to those who 
 found themselves deprived of their livelihood on the 
 vote of the community. If that vote were carried in 
 December in favour of either no-licence or reduction, 
 the licences affected were simply not renewed at the 
 end of the licensing year, the 3Oth of the following 
 June, and the previous holders were placed under the 
 necessity either of clearing out altogether, to start again 
 in another district, or of staying where they were, and 
 conducting their places for the future as boarding- 
 houses on ' temperance ' principles, not a shilling of 
 compensation being given to them for the material 
 difference in value between a place with a licence and 
 the same place without. In one or two instances 
 commodious stone-built hotels, costing 10,000 or so, 
 had just been completed when no-licence was voted. 
 Then, in regard to the reduction_of licences in a par- 
 ticular district, the Act prescribes that those which 
 have been endorsed for breaches of the law are to be 
 abolished first, those which provide insufficient accom- 
 modation for travellers coming next ; but the allega- 
 tion is freely made that when the committee of selec- 
 tion, chosen by popular vote, has strong Prohibitionist 
 leanings, the tendency is rather to choose first for 
 extinction those houses which are doing the largest 
 business. 
 
 In any case there is no doubt that a substantial 
 number of persons in New Zealand have been ruined 
 as the result of this policy of suppression without
 
 160 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 compensation. The vested and personal interests con- 
 cerned may be small as compared with those in the 
 United Kingdom, but they are, nevertheless, consider- 
 able for a Colony of the dimensions of New Zealand. 
 The approximate capital value of all the licensed 
 houses there is officially put at 3,273,000, and the 
 total number of persons engaged in, or connected with, 
 the sale or manufacture of wine, spirits, beer, cordials, 
 etc., in New Zealand was returned in the census of 
 1901 as 8,357, included in this total being : hotel- 
 keepers, 1,556 ; relatives assisting ditto, 764 ; managers 
 or clerks, 126 ; hotel servants and cooks, 3,933 ; bar- 
 men and barmaids, 527 ; managers, secretaries, and 
 stewards of club-houses, 142 ; brewers, bottlers, or 
 others engaged in brewing, 610; maltsters and assistants, 
 147 j makers and bottlers of cordials, etc., 238. Then 
 I find that during the year ending March 31, 1904, 
 the fees paid by holders of licences in New Zealand 
 amounted to 50,126, which sum forms part of the 
 revenue of the local governing bodies in the proportion 
 of 18,681 in counties, and 31,445 in boroughs. 
 
 The practical effect of carrying out the New Zealand 
 prohibition policy to its complete extent would be 
 (i) to ruin, without compensation, a legitimate in- 
 dustry hitherto countenanced and directly sanctioned 
 by the Legislature, and representing an invested capital 
 of three and a quarter millions; (2) to deprive 8,000 
 persons of their present means of obtaining a livelihood 
 for themselves or their families ; (3) to withdraw from 
 the local governing bodies a source of income bringing 
 them in 50,000 a year, which amount they would 
 have to raise, instead, by increased taxation in the 
 community in general. 
 
 There would be less reason for protesting against 
 these sacrifices if it could be shown that they were
 
 FLASKS AND 'SLY-GROG' 161 
 
 leading to the real and undoubted advantage of the 
 community, though even then the question of the 
 fairness of giving reasonable compensation would still 
 remain. The evidence, however, shows that the good 
 actually done is extremely doubtful, while, even admit- 
 ting some benefits, these are completely outweighed by 
 disadvantages in other directions. 
 
 The assumption that a substantial minority of the 
 community will do without the use of their favourite 
 beverages on the mere vote of a majority of their 
 neighbours (a proportion of whom, probably, retain 
 well-stocked cellars of their own) is as futile in New 
 Zealand as it is elsewhere. As illustrating this fact, 
 I may mention that, when no-licence began to be an 
 active force in New Zealand, the representative in the 
 Colony of a well-known firm of whisky manufacturers 
 in Great Britain sent home an exceptionally large order 
 for whisky in flasks, and wrote to his principals : 
 
 I may say I obtained this order solely through prohibition^ for, 
 as the law will not allow spirits to be sold on the race-course, and 
 the people will not be without their whisky, they buy two or three 
 flasks to put in their pockets before going to the course, so as to 
 have a drink when they want it. Under these circumstances a large 
 trade is being done in flasks. 
 
 Speaking generally, however, the effect in New 
 Zealand, as in the United States and Canada, of 
 closing hotel and public-house bars, where good liquor 
 (more or less) is dispensed under open, lawful, and 
 well-regulated conditions, has been that the traffic, 
 instead of being suppressed, is driven largely into the 
 hands of ' sly ' dealers, who often serve out vile decoc- 
 tions of the worst possible kind, and much more likely 
 to cause drunkenness and injury to health than the 
 liquors previously sold at the recognized bars. ' Sly- 
 grog ' selling in New Zealand has, indeed, undergone 
 very considerable expansion. The prosecutions in- 
 
 ii
 
 162 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 creased from 71 (with 45 convictions) in 1894 to 216 
 (with 151 convictions) in 1904. In 1905 there were 
 169 prosecutions and 113 convictions. But, in point 
 of fact, the police in the localities concerned have the 
 greatest possible difficulty in enforcing the law. Public 
 sentiment is, to a large extent, dead against them. 
 The average reasonable citizen fails to see why the 
 sale of a glass of beer or a glass of grog should be 
 regarded as a moral offence, and he not only declines 
 to help the police, but even seeks to throw difficulties 
 in their path in this particular matter, and rejoices in 
 rendering impossible, if he can, what he regards as an 
 encroachment upon his liberties. In some instances 
 the police have resorted to the expedient of employing 
 spies who, in the spirit of agents provacateurs more 
 worthy of the most oppressive types of Continental 
 government than of British justice, have mingled with 
 the workmen in their quarries or elsewhere, got to 
 know where they bought their liquors, and then given 
 information to the police. So intense has been the 
 ill-feeling aroused against men of this type that they 
 have had to be smuggled out of a district by the police 
 in order that they might carry off their heads intact. 
 As recorded in the Journals of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, Police Commissioner Tunbridge has said : 
 
 It is only by the adoption of subterfuges, or the promise of a 
 money reward to persons to become informers both of which 
 practices should only be resorted to in extreme cases that, in the 
 majority of instances, any evidence whatever can be obtained. 
 
 Then, Police Commissioner Dinnie is reported by 
 the same authority to have said : 
 
 The decrease in the number of prosecutions against sly-grog 
 sellers does not necessarily indicate a decrease in the number of 
 persons engaged in this deplorable and troublesome class of offence, 
 but, rather, that more secrecy is adopted to prevent detection ; and, 
 although special action is taken from year to year, and frequent
 
 POLICE TESTIMONY 163 
 
 prosecutions are instituted and punishments inflicted, the result is 
 somewhat disheartening, as it does not appear to have the desired 
 effect in diminishing the number of such offenders or offences. 
 
 Still another police authority, Constable Thomas 
 Griffith, says : 
 
 I have been stationed at Balclutha for over three years : I have 
 always voted for prohibition, and my sympathies are with the 
 temperance people ; but, after three years' experience in the 
 Clutha, I would not recommend prohibition to any other district. 
 Prohibition here is an utter failure. . . . Anyone known to assist 
 the police is held up to the gravest odium. . . . For telling the 
 truth when forced, witnesses are shunned as if they had some fell 
 disease. 
 
 Conditions such as these would be bad enough in 
 themselves, even if they did lead to any substantial 
 decrease of drunkenness ; but there is no evidence that 
 even this result is obtained. I have already spoken of 
 the vile character of the compounds (chiefly made out 
 of chemicals) sold in the sly-grog shops ; but an incident 
 related to me by a New Zealander who has special 
 opportunities for knowing what goes on in the Colony 
 in regard to these matters will indicate more clearly 
 the real character of the business. Two Scotsmen 
 went to a certain cottage, called out a boy, and told 
 him to let them have a bottle of whisky. The boy 
 went inside, and brought out a bottle, which one of the 
 Scots uncorked and put to his lips. No sooner had he 
 tasted the liquor than he spat it out, and said to the 
 lad: 'Why, that's not whisky!' 'Oh yes, sir, it is,' 
 was the reply ; ' I saw father making it last night.' 
 
 Then, the local supplies still obtainable at the sly- 
 grog shops (in the form of alleged spirits rather than of 
 beer, owing to the former taking up less room) are 
 supplemented, either by visits to a town in the next 
 district perhaps ten or twelve miles off where liquor 
 bars are still tolerated, and where the visitors will 
 probably drink more than they would do in normal 
 
 ii 2
 
 164 
 
 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 circumstances ; or by men clubbing together and send- 
 ing one of their number by train to buy liquor in such 
 neighbouring town, and bring it to them. Here, again, 
 it is safe to assume that the liquor so bought would be 
 spirits in place of beer, owing to the greater conveni- 
 ence in carrying the former ; while it is probable that 
 the beverage would be consumed the more freely and 
 with the greater gusto because of the difficulty experi- 
 enced in obtaining it. 
 
 Still another outcome of the situation is that, although 
 in the no-licence districts the total amount of liquor 
 imported has decreased, there has been a considerable 
 advance in the small quantities bought for consumption 
 at home, where it would be available for all the members 
 of the family, as compared with the larger quantities 
 for hotel bars, to which, perhaps, only the head of the 
 same family would be likely to go. Evidence on this 
 point is given by the following figures, which show the 
 imports into Ashburton for the last year of licence and 
 the first year of no-licence in that town : 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Year ending June 30. 
 
 1903. 
 
 1904. 
 
 ALES AND STOUT : 
 Cases 
 
 675 
 
 829 
 
 I8 S 
 
 76 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 1,207 
 85 
 65 
 50 
 
 468 
 155 
 57 
 615 
 250 
 
 39 
 
 73i 
 n 
 18 
 256 
 
 Hogsheads 
 
 Kegs 
 
 Tars 
 
 
 SPIRITS : 
 
 Half-casks 
 Octaves 

 
 INCREASE IN DRUNKENNESS 
 
 165 
 
 As to the effect which a policy of no-licence or of 
 licence reduction may have had on actual drunkenness, 
 the following table, compiled from the public records, 
 shows that, during the seven years preceding the 
 advent of no-licence, the convictions for drunkenness 
 had decreased 15 per cent., whereas under ten years of 
 no-licence conditions the cases of drunkenness reported 
 increased 107 per cent., the year 1894 marking the 
 dividing-line : 
 
 Yeai 
 
 
 
 Number. 
 
 Yea 
 
 
 
 Number. 
 
 1888 
 1889 
 1890 
 1891 
 1892 
 1893 
 1894 
 
 
 
 5,402 
 5,152 
 5,677 
 5,118 
 
 5,055 
 5,048 
 
 4,594 
 
 1896 
 l8 9 7 
 1898 
 1899 
 I9OO 
 1901 
 1902 
 
 
 
 5,005 
 5,204 
 5,532 
 6,28 9 
 
 7,299 
 8,057 
 8,269 
 R RTC 
 
 1895 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,636 
 
 1903 
 1904 
 
 
 
 0,013 
 9,615 
 
 In the interval between the 1902 and the 1905 
 elections certain of the facts here presented, together 
 with others, were widely distributed among the New 
 Zealand public in the form of a pamphlet on ' Pro- 
 hibition or No-Licence,' written by Mr. John McKeague, 
 who further calculated therein that, taking the ex- 
 penses incurred in conducting the local option polls, 
 and the 50 or so which either party would spend in 
 each licensing district, the cost of the five local option 
 polls might be put at 14,500 each, or a total of 
 72,500 ; while, adding to this the costs incurred in the 
 prosecutions and defence of sly-grog cases, and also in 
 the fighting of licensing appeals both in New Zealand 
 and before the Privy Council, he estimated that the 
 total cost to the Colony (apart from losses to the trade)
 
 166 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 of the no-licence policy under the Act of 1893 ' cannot 
 be far short of 90,000.' 
 
 It is probable that the circulation of facts and con- 
 siderations of this kind, coupled with practical experi- 
 ence of local option results and an awakening sense of 
 reasonableness, had a great deal to do in preventing 
 the prohibition party from achieving anything like the 
 success at the poll in 1905 which they had anticipated. 
 The 1902 elections had left them (as already mentioned) 
 with six no-licence victories reduced to three (Ash- 
 burton, Clutha, and Mataura) on appeal and nine 
 ' reduction ' victories. In 1905 the prohibitionists 
 again carried no-licence in six districts (three, Inver- 
 cargill, Oamuru, and Gray Lynn a town with no 
 hotels in addition to Ashburton, Clutha, and Mataura, 
 which voted ' no restoration ') ; but the number of 
 reductions declined from nine to four. Attempts were 
 made by the prohibitionist party to show that, if the 
 figures were only looked at from their point of view, 
 they represented a moral victory ; but the logic of 
 accomplished facts showed that they had failed abso- 
 lutely to gain the successes their more sanguine 
 members had predicted, and the New Zealand Times 
 of December 7, 1905, well described the situation when 
 it said : 
 
 It is not only in the partial arrest of the trend of prohibition 
 throughout the Colony, but in the defeat, in some cases by big 
 majorities, of prominent no-licence advocates, that the set-back to 
 the prohibitionists can be clearly discerned. 
 
 In a subsequent article, published December 18, 1905, 
 the same paper, commenting on the total votes secured 
 by each of the two parties, said : 
 
 It is evident that, though the tide is slowly rising, the gains to 
 prohibition are curiously local, and in some parts of the west the 
 wave is slowly receding. Taking the chief cities, not including
 
 MORAL OF THE STORY 167 
 
 suburbs, we find that, in three out of the four, the set-back to the 
 no-licence movement is plainly discernible. The reason is, prob- 
 ably, that in these centres the ' trade ' is, for the first time in the 
 history of the Colony, conducting a well-organized and persistent 
 fight. Auckland is the only city where prohibition has gone steadily 
 onward. 
 
 The rising of the prohibition tide must, indeed, be 
 slow, if we remember (i) that the Act in question was 
 passed in 1893, and (2) that, whilst there are now 
 sixty-five licensing districts where the local option poll 
 is taken, the prohibitionists, at the end of twelve years' 
 fighting under the Act, carried ' no-licence ' in only six 
 of those districts (including three they had previously 
 captured), and reduction in no more than four. 
 
 The more immediate moral of the story seems to be 
 that, so long as the prohibitionist party are unchecked 
 in their promises, assertions, and denunciations, they 
 may be expected to control an increasing volume of 
 public opinion, especially among those who are disposed 
 to believe exaggerated or impressive statements without 
 inquiring into them ; but that, as soon as the public 
 begin to realize the real facts of the case, and as soon, 
 also, as the attacked party begins to bestir itself, and 
 make a bold and gallant defence in favour of rights and 
 of liberty, there will be a greater chance of the whole 
 subject being regarded from a broader standpoint. 
 
 In confirmation of this fact I would remark, in pass- 
 ing, that in 1903 the Prime Minister in New Zealand 
 introduced into the House of Representatives a new 
 Licensing Bill, of which the Auckland Herald gave the 
 following summary : 
 
 The question to be submitted to the electors is to be licence or 
 no-licence, the existing alternative of voting for reduction being 
 deleted. 
 
 Where no-licence is carried, no person in the district can have 
 liquor, and a fine of -20 is provided on persons having liquor 
 except for medical, scientific, or manufacturing purposes.
 
 168 NO-LICENCE IN NEW ZEALAND 
 
 Then, at the next licensing poll, a referendum is to be put to the 
 people whether the succeeding licensing poll should be at the end 
 of three years or six, a bare majority to decide this question. 
 
 The licensing committees are to be elective, as at present ; but 
 the mayor of the borough, or chairman of a county council, is to 
 sit with them, and interested parties are to be debarred from sitting 
 on licensing committees, this provision being, according to the 
 Premier's statement, applicable to prohibitionists as well as mem- 
 bers of the trade. 
 
 Youths under eighteen years of age cannot be supplied with 
 liquor, and those who send children for liquor can be punished. 
 
 Persons found on premises after hours can be punished, and 
 clubs in no-licence districts cannot sell liquor. 
 
 Where a hotel has been improved at a cost of .3,000 or over, 
 a six years' tenure is provided, although no-licence may have been 
 carried in the district meantime. 
 
 There is a provision against tied houses, and, where there are 
 breaches of the law, the house will be affected as well as the 
 licensee, and when a licence is cancelled it means the closing up 
 of the house. 
 
 These proposals awakened what has been described 
 as ' a storm of rage ' in the Colony, and in the result 
 the House decided, by thirty-eight votes to thirty-six, 
 against the measure being sent to a committee. 
 
 Looking, from the point of view of the highest 
 interests of the colony, at the actual results of a local 
 option regime in New Zealand, it is obvious that, 
 against any real advantages which can be not only 
 claimed, but sustained, by the prohibitionists, there are 
 some very serious drawbacks. Assuming, for the sake 
 of argument, that there may have been a decrease in 
 the amount of drunkenness (though I have met with no 
 figures which prove that this has actually occurred), we 
 have to put against such decrease (i) the intense bitter- 
 ness of the feeling which the local option propaganda 
 has spread throughout the Colony, dividing it into two 
 great hostile camps, and setting neighbour against 
 neighbour ; (2) the disadvantages of local option laws 
 which fail to appeal to the moral sense of the com- 
 munity, excite animosity rather than support, and can
 
 CONSIDERATIONS AGAINST 169 
 
 only be carried out, even in part, by the organization of 
 a spy system which brings the administration of justice 
 into contempt with all honest and honourable men ; 
 
 (3) the inexcusable interference with personal liberty ; 
 
 (4) the sense of injustice inflicted on working-class and 
 middle- class people, in depriving them of the oppor- 
 tunity of getting reasonable refreshment when they 
 want it, while the well-to-do citizen can store as much 
 liquor as he pleases in his cellars ; and (5) the effect 
 which the whole controversy has in diverting the atten- 
 tion of the electorate from the real problems, colonial 
 or Imperial, a General Election should involve, and 
 concentrating it rather upon side issues, which had 
 much better be left to the conscience and the practical 
 common sense of the people.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 As already briefly mentioned in Chapter X., the policy 
 of the disinterested management of public-houses is 
 advocated by a certain section of the temperance party 
 in the United Kingdom as an alternative to the effective 
 prohibition which they do not regard as coming within 
 the range of practical politics in this country ; though, 
 on the other hand, there are many members even of 
 this section who regard the adoption of the principle as 
 merely a further stepping-stone to the prohibition by 
 which they hope to abolish altogether the traffic in 
 intoxicants. 
 
 At the present moment Norway is the Mecca of true 
 believers in the disinterested management faith. Here, 
 however, I would at once suggest that, even if one 
 admitted that the idea had been an unqualified success 
 in Norway, it would not necessarily follow that there is 
 an equal chance of securing such success here. The 
 general conditions of the two countries are absolutely 
 dissimilar. 
 
 In the first place, the drinking habits of the Nor- 
 wegians (leading to what were, undoubtedly, the most 
 deplorable results) are directly traceable to the earlier 
 toleration of domestic distilleries, and to the consequent 
 general and generous consumption of the native spirit 
 
 170
 
 NORWAY AND ENGLAND 171 
 
 manufactured therein. In England there has been no 
 question of domestic distilleries, and the national bever- 
 age is beer. Secondly, Norway is a land possessed of 
 only a few large towns, the majority of the population 
 living in hamlets or in scattered houses situated mostly 
 in mountain valleys, where the means of communica- 
 tion are limited, and the enforcement even of prohibi- 
 tion is comparatively easy. England has many large 
 towns or cities in which the bulk of our population 
 live, the means of communication are abundant, and 
 the enforcement of prohibition is admittedly impracti- 
 cable. Thirdly, the meek and mild-mannered peasant 
 in Norway's lonesome valleys, and even the more ad- 
 vanced but still generally submissive worker in the 
 towns, represent very different types of character from 
 the average British working-man, with his sturdy in- 
 dependence, his strong sense of his rights and privileges, 
 and his extreme sensitiveness in regard to ' class legisla- 
 tion ' that is to say, when such legislation has not 
 been framed in his own special favour. 
 
 But, leaving these comparisons aside, it may be of 
 interest to deal with the principle on its merits, and to 
 examine it from that point of view. 
 
 The Norwegian system is an adaptation of the older 
 Gothenburg system ; but the supporters of the former 
 never fail to disparage the methods of the latter, and 
 insist strongly on their own superiority. In each case 
 the liquor bars are under the control of companies of 
 ' philanthropists,' content with a 5 per cent, benefit for 
 themselves ; but there is an alleged point of difference 
 in regard to the distribution of the balance of the profits. 
 One of the main features of the Gothenburg system has 
 been the devotion of a substantial proportion of such 
 profits to general municipal purposes, in order to reduce 
 the rates. The upholders of the Norwegian system say
 
 172 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 (quite rightly) that the creation of this municipal 
 interest in sales and profits must lead to various un- 
 desirable results ; and these results have certainly not 
 been wanting, either in Gothenburg City or in other 
 towns in Sweden where the same principle has been 
 adopted. The Norwegians hold that the surplus profits 
 accruing to their Samlags (or liquor companies) had 
 better be devoted to objects of public benefit and to 
 benevolent purposes which the local authorities are not 
 bound by Act of Parliament to support ; and, because 
 they operate on these lines, they do not fail to assure 
 inquirers (in effect), ' We are far superior in our ideas 
 to the people in the next country.' 
 
 In making a comparison between the two systems 
 one is, however, reminded of the well-known lines : 
 
 Strange all this difference should be 
 'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee. 
 
 If the Samlag profits in Norway have not been 
 applied, like the Bolag profits in Sweden, direct to the 
 reduction of the rates, they have nevertheless been 
 devoted largely to purposes which would otherwise have 
 had to be provided for out of the pockets of the rate- 
 payers. Alternatively, they have sometimes gone, in part, 
 to support various ' philanthropic ' purposes of a type 
 which would not always have stood the very critical 
 tests of the editor of Truth. 
 
 There is no need for me to repeat here what I have 
 already stated on the general subject in my book on 
 ' Licensing and Temperance in Sweden, Norway, and 
 Denmark '; but, by way of giving testimony from 
 another and independent quarter, I may quote the 
 following from an article published in the Scottish 
 Reformer* of February 9, 1907, commenting on the 
 
 * Organ of the Scottish Permissive Bill and Temperance Asso- 
 ciation.
 
 INTERESTED DISINTERESTEDNESS 173 
 
 report of the Commission appointed by the Scottish 
 Temperance Legislation Board to inquire into the liquor 
 licensing laws of Norway : 
 
 Turning to the matter of Samlag profits, the Commissioners 
 state : 
 
 ' Since the establishment of the Samlags about ;r, 400,000 have 
 been expended on " objects of public benefit." During the past 
 eight years the proportion accruing to the State has been increased 
 and set apart till 1910 to form the nucleus of an old-age pension 
 fund which now amounts to ,500,000.' 
 
 This is only partly the truth. Previous to 1896 the profits were 
 appropriated to the maintenance of hospitals, refuges, homes, 
 museums, libraries, parks, baths, educational institutes, Christian 
 missions, temperance societies, inebriate homes, summer excur- 
 sions, etc. Some ,75,000 per annum was distributed amongst 
 these various institutions, and this sum in a comparatively small 
 and poor population made the ' disinterested ' liquor company 
 directors very powerful, politically and socially, and the applicants 
 for grants correspondingly submissive. The appeals of claimants 
 grew faster than the profits, and ' methods ' of augmenting these 
 were invented. In one case the usual time of closing the drink- 
 shops was suspended for a year or two by the ' disinterested ' liquor 
 company directors, and the extra profit thus obtained handed over 
 to the authorities of a hospital who were wanting money. So 
 immoral had this aspect of the 'disinterested' company system 
 become that in 1894, at the instance of the temperance party, an 
 Act was passed, which came into force in 1896, by which the State 
 appropriated the bulk of the profits for its own purposes, beginning 
 with 25 per cent, in 1897, and increasing 10 per cent, per annum 
 until in 1901 the whole of the profits after, of course, first paying 
 the shareholders' dividends were divided as follows : 
 
 Sixty-five per cent, to the State. 
 
 Fifteen per cent, to the municipalities in which the companies 
 exist. 
 
 Twenty per cent, to objects of public utility not being 
 chargeable on any rates, but operating as counter-attrac- 
 tions to the public-house; in towns 10 per cent., and in 
 surrounding country districts 10 per cent. 
 
 The legislative changes thus brought about in 1894 
 were, in effect, a severe condemnation of the whole 
 'disinterested' principle, even as operated on the 
 ' improved ' Norwegian plan. The position to-day is 
 shown in Appendix X. of the Scottish Commissioners' 
 Report to be as follows :
 
 174 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF SAMLAG SURPLUS IN 1904. 
 
 The following table shows the application of the proportion of 
 profits (20 per cent.) distributed by the Samlags themselves in 1904 : 
 
 Object. 
 
 Amount 
 Sterling. 
 
 Percentage 
 of Total. 
 
 Education (mainly technical and domestic 
 economy) 
 
 i 
 
 4,200 
 
 I7'I 
 
 
 2 480 
 
 00 
 
 Assistance, nursing and feeding poor ... 
 Museums and scientific purposes 
 Friendly societies ... ... ... 
 
 2,020 
 2,000 
 I 660 
 
 8-1 
 8-0 
 6'6 
 
 Public baths 
 
 I.36o 
 
 T4 
 
 Tree-planting, parks, etc. 
 Music and singing 
 Hospitals 
 
 1,140 
 1,100 
 Q7O 
 
 47 
 4'4 
 v8 
 
 Temperance teaching 
 Home missions, etc. 
 Libraries and reading-rooms 
 Workmen's homes 
 Roads, streets, and railways 
 
 880 
 820 
 760 
 72O 
 490 
 32O 
 
 3-3 
 3'3 
 3'6 
 2-9 
 1-9 
 
 I a 
 
 
 3 QQO 
 
 i6'o 
 
 
 
 
 
 25,000 
 
 lOO'O 
 
 Of the total profits distributed to objects of public utility during 
 the thirty-two years to 1904, education received 16 percent. ; roads, 
 streets, etc., n per cent.; orphanages, 8 percent.; waterworks, 
 8 per cent. ; parks, 5 per cent. ; temperance societies, 2 per cent. ; 
 and other purposes, 50 per cent. 
 
 I would invite the reader to go carefully through this 
 list, and form his own conclusions as to the extent to 
 which these various items would either have to be met 
 out of the rates, or, alternatively, be subscribed to by the 
 individuals constituting the community, if the Samlag 
 profits were not available. In England, at least, the 
 ratepayers would expect to pay, through the local rates, 
 for education, roads, streets, waterworks, public baths, 
 libraries, parks, and so on ; and, if the cost thereof were 
 partially met from some other source, the rates would
 
 THE DIVISION OF PROFITS 175 
 
 certainly be relieved to that extent, even although the 
 payments from this other source were not made direct 
 to the local exchequers. In regard to orphanages and 
 hospitals, the need for local contributions by the charit- 
 able is decreased in proportion to the amount obtained 
 from other sources ; and to this extent, again, the resi- 
 dents in a particular locality where such institutions 
 have been set up are directly and financially interested 
 in the Samlag profits. 
 
 From this point of view we can realize better that 
 scramble for the said profits which led to the interven- 
 tion of the Legislature in 1894 ; but, even although the 
 Samlags may now themselves distribute no more than 
 20 per cent, of their net profits, it is obviously idle to 
 talk about 'disinterested management.' Apart from 
 the philanthropic shareholders, who get a guaranteed 
 dividend of 5 per cent, on their investments (and there 
 is many a small capitalist in England who would gladly 
 become a philanthropist under like conditions), what 
 has happened is that the interest in the profits of the 
 liquor trade has simply been diverted from a few indi- 
 viduals to many ; and, so long as the latter do benefit 
 directly from those profits, the particular treasury into 
 which the money flows, or the particular head ' rates ' 
 or ' contributions ' under which a saving is effected, 
 becomes merely a matter of detail. The distinctly 
 ' interested ' management is there, all the same. 
 
 On this subject of management the Scottish Commis- 
 sioners also say in their Report : 
 
 The Samlags still further restrict their sales by an absolute 
 refusal to give credit or to permit customers to remain on the pre- 
 mises after they have been served. The managers have a fixed 
 salary, and have no interest in the profits on the sale of liquor, 
 though in some cases they receive a commission on the sale of food 
 and non-intoxicants. Such a policy affords conclusive proof of the 
 disinterestedness of the Samlags.
 
 176 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 Comparing these conditions with the type of ordinary 
 licensed house in England which may most fairly be 
 contrasted with the Norwegian Samlags namely, 
 ' managed houses ' I would point out (i) that brewery 
 companies' rules in England insist that their managers 
 shall not give credit ; (2) that in England public-houses 
 are regarded as something more than places where men 
 gulp down liquor and then go, and are assumed to serve 
 a certain social purpose as well ; (3) that public-house 
 managers in England also have fixed salaries, and, 
 except possibly in one or two extremely rare instances, 
 have no interest in the profits on the sale of liquor; 
 and (4) that in some cases they not merely receive a 
 commission on the sale of food, but are allowed to 
 keep for themselves all the profits they can make from 
 this branch of the business a branch which their 
 employers insist on their taking up, while affording 
 them every possible facility for carrying it on success- 
 fully.* Why the Scottish Commissioners should repre- 
 sent the Norwegian conditions as ' conclusive proof of 
 the disinterestedness of the Samlags,' and yet ignore 
 the existence of like conditions at home, without any 
 need for the introduction of Samlags in order to secure 
 them, is not quite clear. 
 
 The Scottish Commissioners make very little attempt 
 to show that in Norway prohibition in the country 
 districts and company control in the towns have had 
 any appreciable effect in reducing the actual consump- 
 tion of alcoholic drinks. No one would gather from 
 their report that, while the Samlag bar sales in Chris- 
 tiania were only 413,000 litres in 1905, the Samlag 
 officials themselves calculate that the sales in bottles 
 by the wine and spirit merchants of that city represented, 
 for the same year, a total of 2,000,000 litres, a fact which 
 * See p. 121.
 
 BOTTLES SUCCEED BARS 
 
 177 
 
 seems to suggest that what is taking place in Norway 
 (as in Sweden) is not so much a decline in drinking as 
 merely a transition in the way of obtaining drink. 
 
 The Commissioners do, however, in Appendix XII., 
 give some specially instructive figures in regard to 
 Bergen, confirming abundantly my view that while 
 under the influence of prohibition and disinterested 
 management company control whether separately or 
 in combination there may be a decline in public 
 drinking at the bars, there is, at the same time, a more 
 or less corresponding increase in private drinking out 
 of bottles. From the figures in question I have com- 
 piled the following table : 
 
 BERGEN SAMLAG SALES, IN LITRES. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Bar 'On.' 
 
 Bottle ' Off.' 
 
 Total. 
 
 1877* 
 
 37,000 
 
 99,967 
 
 172,357 
 
 272,324 
 
 i892t 
 
 54,600 
 
 95,965 
 
 236,860 
 
 332,825 
 
 i893 
 
 55,600 
 
 92,830 
 
 244,600 
 
 337,430 
 
 1894* 
 
 56,600 
 
 86,952 
 
 232,227 
 
 39,I79 
 
 1895 
 
 57,800 
 
 83,978 
 
 216,627 
 
 300,605 
 
 1896 
 
 59,900 
 
 65,462 
 
 222,063 
 
 287,525 
 
 1897 
 
 62,400 
 
 65,108 
 
 272,715 
 
 337,823 
 
 1898 
 
 66,000 
 
 67,865 
 
 334,767 
 
 402,632 
 
 1899 
 
 70,000 
 
 67,437 
 
 349,534 
 
 416,971 
 
 1900 
 
 72,645 
 
 67,481 
 
 376,944 
 
 444,425 
 
 1901 
 
 72,800 
 
 65,234 
 
 387,005 
 
 452,239 
 
 I 9 02 
 
 74,600 
 
 
 426,313 
 
 426,313 
 
 1903 
 
 74,800 
 
 
 
 417,948 
 
 417,948 
 
 1904 
 
 78,200 
 
 
 
 427,753 
 
 427,753 
 
 i95ll 
 
 80,000 
 
 
 
 422,034 
 
 422,034 
 
 Decrease in bar ' on ' sales in 1901 over 1877 ... 34,733 litres. 
 Increase in bottle 'off' sales in 1901 over 1877 214,648 litres. 
 
 * Bergen Samlag started. f Highest bar sales since 1877. 
 | Local option adopted in Norway. 
 Bars abolished in Bergen. 
 
 || Temporary decline in consumption owing to stirring political 
 events of 1905. 
 
 12
 
 178 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 But, for the reasons already mentioned in regard to 
 Christiania, Samlag figures alone are not sufficient. 
 One must take into consideration, also, the sales effected 
 throughout Norway by the private merchants. It must 
 further be remembered that, prior to 1904 when the 
 Norwegian Government were able to impose some pro- 
 hibitive import duties any decline in the consumption 
 of the native spirit was more than counterbalanced by 
 an enormous increase in the consumption of ' laddevin,' 
 a concoction ' made in Germany,' which was especially 
 indulged in by those who had the slightest difficulty in 
 getting liquor from the Samlags. The Commissioners 
 admit that ' the import and consumption of this false 
 wine continued and increased for a few years, till the 
 country was literally flooded with it, with most disastrous 
 effects on the sobriety of the people ' (effects, they might 
 have added, much worse in the case of so insidious 
 a beverage than would have resulted from insobriety 
 caused by the liquors of the country). But the Com- 
 missioners do not say, what is nevertheless a fact, that 
 the importation and the consumption of these enormous 
 quantities of laddevin were directly due to the line of 
 action taken by the prohibition and disinterested manage- 
 ment parties in attempting to force the people into their 
 own way of thinking. 
 
 Nor do the Commissioners make out much of a case 
 for disinterested management when they come to deal 
 with the question of drunkenness. According to the 
 figures they themselves adduce, the arrests for drunken- 
 ness in Bergen and Christiania respectively since 1897 
 have been as follows :
 
 THE QUESTION OF DRUNKENNESS 179 
 
 AVERAGE PER 1,000 OF THE POPULATION. 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 
 Bergen. 
 
 Christiania. 
 
 1897 
 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 Ill 
 
 1898 
 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 94 
 
 1899 
 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 101 
 
 1900 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 90 
 
 1901 
 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 75 
 
 1902 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 59 
 
 1903 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 58 
 
 1904 
 
 
 
 
 2O 
 
 52 
 
 1905 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 43 
 
 It might be argued that in Christiania drunkenness 
 has declined in nine years from in per 1,000 of the 
 population to 43 per 1,000. That would sound very 
 well, unless one happened to know that the arrests for 
 drunkenness per 1,000 of the population are only 
 10 in London, n in Liverpool, 13 in Manchester, and 
 18 in Glasgow. 
 
 There are, of course, differences in compiling statis- 
 tics of drunkenness, and to these the Commissioners 
 (by way of accounting for their own depressing state- 
 ment) very rightly point ; but the variations in the 
 methods of reckoning do not account for the great 
 differences between the Norwegian and the English 
 figures. The Commissioners further say that 
 
 Many of the arrests for drunkenness which appear on the police 
 records do not really belong to the town, but to the surrounding 
 rural districts. The peasants come into the town, drink heavily, 
 and fall into the hands of the police ; and all their offences are 
 recorded among the offences of the citizens of the town. In Bergen, 
 for instance, 30 per cent, of the arrests for drunkenness in 1905 
 were arrests of non-residents, and, therefore, ought not to be in- 
 cluded in any statistical statement from which conclusions are to 
 be drawn. 
 
 Not only do like conditions apply more or less to 
 English towns especially on market days but the 
 
 12 2
 
 i8o DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 argument advanced by the Commissioners is in itself a 
 most grave reflection alike on prohibition and on dis- 
 interested management. In the first place, it implies, 
 in effect, that, although the peasantry keep sober in 
 their lonely valleys because prohibition has cut off the 
 supplies, they indulge all the more eagerly as soon as 
 they come into the towns, and drink there to excess 
 to make up for lost time when they might only 
 drink in moderation if they were able to satisfy their 
 reasonable requirements from day to day in their own 
 localities. In the second place, it involves the admission 
 that even disinterested management of the most severe 
 type is powerless to prevent the abnormal amount of 
 drunkenness which follows as a natural consequence on 
 attempts at undue restriction. 
 
 In their reluctance to accept this perfectly logical 
 conclusion, the Scottish Commissioners say : 
 
 It is also of the very first importance, in endeavouring to establish 
 any relation between the Samlags and the statistics for drunken- 
 ness, to remember that a great proportion of the drunkenness 
 in all the towns of Norway is due to beer-drinking. The spirit 
 bars are so strictly controlled, and the sale of beer is so uncontrolled, 
 that it is reasonable to adopt the opinion, strongly held in many 
 quarters, that the existing drunkenness is largely beer drunkenness, 
 and that the spirit-drinkers have been replaced by beer-drinkers. 
 
 If the spirit - drinkers in Norway are really being 
 replaced by beer-drinkers, one can only say, ' So much 
 the better !' What I found in Norway was that a 
 certain proportion of the spirit-drinkers were discarding 
 the ordinary ' controlled ' spirits for methylated spirits 
 or ' politur ' (furniture polish), which are infinitely 
 worse ; and that, from whatever the exact cause, there 
 was probably a great deal more drunkenness in Norway 
 than even the figures already given would suggest, 
 inasmuch as, owing to the restrictions enforced, and 
 especially the very early closing of the bars, a great
 
 BEER CONSUMPTION 181 
 
 amount of drinking goes on either in private houses or, 
 in summer, in the woods. 
 
 As regards beer, the tendency in Norway of late 
 years has been to produce beers weaker and still 
 weaker in alcoholic strength ; yet the Scottish Com- 
 missioners, in their Report, draw no distinction between 
 spirits which may contain 45 or so per cent, of alcohol 
 and beers having so small a percentage thereof that, as 
 one of the leading brewers in Christiania, whom I inter- 
 viewed on this subject, said to me, 'The human body 
 would not contain sufficient of the beer I brew to make 
 any ordinary man drunk.' It is true that the Com- 
 missioners say, in paragraph 4 : ' Between 1860 and 
 1884 the Legislature very gradually brought under con- 
 trol the trade in beer and wine, which were originally 
 deemed temperance drinks' (The italics are mine.) But 
 they ignore the fact that beers containing only a small 
 percentage of alcohol are still deemed temperance 
 drinks in Norway; that they have been formally 
 ' recognized ' by most of the temperance societies ; that 
 temperance advocates on the platform, when they preach 
 abstinence, take it for granted their hearers understand 
 they mean abstinence from ' strong drink,' and not 
 from harmless beers ; and that such temperance advo- 
 cates themselves drink in public certain brands of beer, 
 containing a low percentage of alcohol, as openly as 
 teetotallers in England or Scotland take ginger-beer or 
 lemonade. 
 
 It is difficult to realize that a deputation going 
 expressly from Scotland to Norway to investigate the 
 whole subject of licensing could have failed to hear 
 of these facts, and it is significant that they should 
 refrain from mentioning them ; that they should seek, 
 rather, to make it appear that the acceptance of beer 
 as a temperance drink was a matter of many years ago
 
 i82 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 rather than a factor of to-day ; and that, in trying to 
 relieve disinterested management of any discredit for 
 the drunkenness this system may have failed to check, 
 they should seek to remove the responsibility from the 
 strong drinks which the system does profess to control 
 to the weak beers which are still outside the monopoly. 
 It is easy to understand why the defenders of the 
 system in Norway should try to find a scapegoat for its 
 imperfections, or, changing the analogy, should accuse 
 the lamb drinking down-stream of troubling the waters. 
 But one hardly expects that a deputation of British 
 inquirers should be taken in by such representations. 
 
 There is no need to deal in further detail with this 
 Report of the Scottish Commissioners, who went to 
 Norway with the evident intention of collecting all 
 the arguments they could in favour of disinterested 
 management, and have, in truth, brought back an 
 armoury of facts for the use of those who would oppose 
 its adoption ! 
 
 To sum up in a single line the whole position of 
 disinterested management in both Norway and Sweden, 
 in regard to the actual consumption of alcoholic bever- 
 ages, it is simply a case of ' Down with the bars and 
 up with the bottles !' 
 
 In this country the movement in favour of disin- 
 terested management is based, mainly, on the belief 
 (i) that under the system of private ownership of 
 public-houses ' the business is " pushed " in every way 
 that can be devised ' ; and (2) that if the licences were 
 placed in the hands of men ' who have no interest in 
 increasing or maintaining the sale, and have accepted 
 them for the purpose of reducing the evils of drinking 
 to the smallest possible dimensions,' then ' all pushing 
 of the sale of drink would cease, and all questionable 
 practices and extraneous attractions therewith would
 
 THE MOVEMENT AT HOME 183 
 
 disappear,' while ' in place of powerful opponents we 
 shall have proposers and supporters of curtailments and 
 reductions.' It is expressly stipulated, however, that 
 ' the licences should not be granted to, or be managed 
 by, the licensing authority or the local municipal 
 authority, but should be entrusted to a specially con- 
 stituted body of suitable persons, who would provide 
 the capital required, upon which they would receive 
 only a moderate amount of interest.' The locality is 
 not to have any direct or appreciable financial interest 
 in the houses. The surplus profits are to go to the 
 national exchequer in the first instance, and ' should 
 not in any way be used to relieve local rates.' 
 
 In the suggestion here made as to the ' pushing ' of 
 sales in ordinary public-houses, there is (as I have 
 shown in connection with managed houses) far more 
 of imagination than of fact. If a man goes into a 
 public-house to get a drink he does so because he wants 
 it, and he is certainly not induced to enter by the land- 
 lord standing at the door and proclaiming aloud the 
 good quality of his wares, like a butcher in a poor 
 neighbourhood. If, having had one glass, he takes a 
 second, it is again because he wishes for it, and not 
 because of any persuasive powers brought to bear on 
 him by landlord or barman, who, in effect, merely 
 supply what is asked for. As for ' questionable prac- 
 tices,' these are least likely to be found in brewery- 
 owned houses, where the supervision and control are 
 as strict as anything that could be enforced under a 
 system of disinterested management. A special feature 
 is made of the disappearance of ' extraneous attrac- 
 tions,' and also of the carrying out of 'curtailments 
 and reductions ' ; but if the places are made too dull, 
 too uninviting, and too few, and if rigid control is 
 carried to an extent that will repel the average
 
 184 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 customer, the effect must inevitably be to give a still 
 further impetus to secret drinking, whether in clubs or 
 elsewhere. Men may be driven away from the houses, 
 but they will not necessarily abandon their favourite 
 beverages. On the contrary, they may indulge in them 
 still more freely when they revolt against a system of 
 control which is carried in their opinion to undue or, 
 at least, unpleasant extremes. 
 
 The stipulation that the local municipal authority is 
 not to hold the licences, or even to have any share in 
 the handling of the profits, is in itself a severe con- 
 demnation of the fundamental basis of disinterested 
 management as originally adopted by the city of 
 Gothenburg. It means, in effect, that the disinterested- 
 ness of the local authority cannot be depended on, and 
 with that admission the whole argument as to the 
 superiority of public control over private management 
 falls to the ground. It is proposed to appoint instead 
 a ' specially constituted body of suitable persons.' 
 
 How such a body could be got together to manage 
 the public-houses in (say) a city like Birmingham is 
 not explained. The fact seems to be ignored that the 
 business of managing even a single public-house is one 
 that presents as many difficulties and as many pitfalls 
 as any retail trade under the sun. The man who 
 undertakes it without having first had practical ex- 
 perience in regard both to the duties and to the grave 
 and most complicated responsibilities of the position 
 is doomed to failure, even if such failure should not 
 lead to forfeiture of the licence. Brewery companies 
 controlling a number of houses appoint as inspectors 
 and superintendents men who have spent their lives in 
 the trade, and count as experts therein ; yet even under 
 these conditions the work of management calls for the 
 display of personal qualities and special knowledge of a
 
 DIFFICULTIES IN CONTROL 185 
 
 kind and to an extent that few outsiders could realize. 
 Under ' disinterested management ' the experts would all 
 be cleared out, and their places taken by a set of well- 
 intentioned amateurs, possessed, probably, of much zeal, 
 but no practical knowledge at all of the realities and the 
 intricacies of the business, and starting mainly with the 
 idea of remodelling on an entirely new basis that distribu- 
 tion of intoxicants which is as old as humanity itself. 
 
 The result could not possibly fail to be a huge fiasco. 
 Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the ' specially 
 constituted body of suitable persons ' at the head of the 
 combination proved fully equal to the task undertaken in 
 the matter of supreme control (though, in effect, this 
 is extremely unlikely), great difficulties would still be 
 found in securing suitable and absolutely trustworthy 
 managers for the individual houses. Such difficulties 
 are met with in an acute form by the directors of the 
 public-house trusts already established ; they would be 
 increased many times over when the whole of the 
 public-houses were controlled by representatives of dis- 
 interested management ; and it cannot be doubted that if 
 the police and the magistrates then enforced the law with 
 anything like the same stringency as that shown under 
 existing conditions, the end of it all would be chaos. 
 
 It may be suggested that I am using exaggerated 
 language, inasmuch as there are already in existence in 
 the United Kingdom a number of disinterested manage- 
 ment houses which are being conducted with more or 
 less success. One must not assume, however, that the 
 favourable results secured in rural or suburban localities, 
 under the best possible conditions, would necessarily 
 follow also in the case of ' Trust ' public-houses situate 
 in densely populated working-class neighbourhoods 
 of busy industrial towns. It is the latter conditions 
 rather than the former that would represent the real
 
 186 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 test of the system ; and such a test, on any satisfactory 
 basis, has still, I believe, to be made. 
 
 Meanwhile we get an illustration of what may happen 
 under disinterested management by a prosecution in- 
 stituted at Morpeth in November, 1906, against Mr. 
 John Oswin Bell, licence holder of the Earl Grey Arms, 
 Broomhill, for permitting drunkenness on Sunday, 
 October 21. Mr. Bell (who is a county justice for 
 Northumberland) is secretary of the local Public-house 
 Trust Company, and the house in question belongs to 
 that company, having been built by and named after 
 Earl Grey, who obtained a licence for it in 1901, the 
 place being opened for business in February, 1902. 
 Mr. Bell did not live at the house, which was in charge 
 of a manager, so that it compares with the ' managed 
 houses ' of a brewery firm, with this material difference : 
 that there seems to have been no such effective super- 
 vision of the manager himself as a brewery firm would 
 have adopted. According to a newspaper report 
 
 Police evidence was given to the effect that on the Sunday in 
 question about 70 men came out of the hotel, and Sergeant Short 
 alleged that 50 per cent, of them were under the influence of drink, 
 two miners being so helpless that they had to be led away by com- 
 panions. The sergeant added that he had never seen a worse con- 
 ducted house, and when it emptied at 2.30 p.m. there was a drunken 
 procession down the road. 
 
 The magistrates imposed a penalty of forty shillings 
 and costs. In commenting on the case, the Temperance 
 Leader said : 
 
 This was the first of these houses opened, and, if our information 
 is correct, its record is no improvement on the ordinary pub. There 
 have been eight managers within five years. Within five weeks 
 of the opening there was a prosecution for permitting drunken- 
 ness, and the second manager was sent to gaol for four months, 
 besides the conviction we recorded. The noble Earl has not proved 
 himself to be a very successful publican. Both Bishop Potter in 
 America and Earl Grey in this country have been, indeed, con- 
 spicuous failures as public-house patrons.
 
 'TRUST' PUBLIC-HOUSES 187 
 
 If the facts be as here stated, then the Temperance 
 Leader puts the matter very mildly in suggesting that 
 this ' Trust ' house was ' no improvement on the 
 ordinary pub.' Not only was it clearly no improve- 
 ment, but it was far worse, and any ' ordinary pub ' 
 which had such a record would be deprived of its 
 licence without the slightest mercy. But the additional 
 facts given by the Temperance Leader confirm in a 
 striking manner the suggestion I have already made, 
 that one of the greatest practical difficulties likely to 
 be experienced by the controllers of ' Trust ' public- 
 houses consists in the finding of capable and efficient 
 managers. 
 
 Altogether, therefore, the idea of putting a ' specially 
 constituted body of suitable persons ' in charge, not 
 merely of a few isolated public-houses, but the whole 
 of the licensed houses in a particular town or district, 
 in place of the practical and experienced men now 
 controlling them, does not seem to be at all promising 
 when one gets beyond the limits of purely rural com- 
 munities. Nor does the municipalization of public- 
 houses offer a more promising outlook, judging from 
 the views entertained by Mr. Arthur Chamberlain, who, 
 in a letter read at a United Kingdom Alliance meeting 
 in Birmingham on November 27, 1906, declared himself 
 opposed to municipal management, saying ' a licensing 
 justice's experience had shown him that many of the 
 municipally managed houses were amongst the worst 
 in the town, while the protection that the name and 
 influence of the corporation provided made them more 
 difficult to control than those of private owners.' 
 
 Disinterested management is being advocated at the 
 present time with a vast amount of energy as the great 
 panacea for all the evils, real or supposed, of the 
 trade in intoxicants. I cannot but conclude, however,
 
 i88 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT 
 
 that as a general measure, apart from experiments or 
 partial adoption here and there, it is doomed to failure. 
 No real arguments in support of its adoption are to be 
 drawn from Norway. The keeping of public-houses 
 represents a skilled business in which few amateurs can 
 hope to succeed. Isolated examples of success in rural 
 parishes at home have no significance as regards 
 urban centres. Arm-chair theorists who can draw up 
 elaborate schemes on paper, or, leaving their arm- 
 chairs, make stirring speeches on public platforms, are 
 not necessarily competent to direct doubtful experi- 
 ments in the practicalities of everyday existence. 
 
 The advocates of disinterested management have, 
 indeed, an active time before them if they hope still to 
 achieve success for their wholly impracticable scheme. 
 Their most vigorous opponents at present are within 
 the circle of the temperance party itself, the United King- 
 dom Alliance people, ever aiming at total suppression, 
 being bitterly opposed to anything that would, as they 
 generally express it, ' tend to make the liquor traffic re- 
 spectable.' They have still more to convert the larger 
 body of the British public who are without prejudice 
 in the matter, and are prepared to consider fairly the 
 pros and cons of the situation. What they have 
 hitherto done has been mainly to secure the allegiance 
 of a certain number of Bishops and influential laymen 
 who have given in their names as supporters, probably 
 without first taking any trouble to investigate thoroughly 
 all that the proposals involve and the real nature of 
 the experience already gained. When such investiga- 
 tion is made on exhaustive and impartial lines, the 
 verdict must inevitably be that a general application of 
 disinterested management, as in the case of a general 
 application of prohibition, does not come within the 
 range of practical politics.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 CLUBS AS UNLICENSED PUBLIC-HOUSES 
 
 THE vigorous efforts which have been made of late 
 years by licensing magistrates inspired thereto, more 
 or less, by teetotal sentiment to bring about a sub- 
 stantial reduction in the number of places licensed for 
 the sale of alcoholic beverages has so far succeeded 
 that there has been an actual decline of about 4 per 
 cent, in the number of ' on-licences ' during the past 
 nine years. But side by side with this diminution in 
 licensed public-houses brought about, to a large 
 extent, at a considerable cost, and with much hardship, 
 to the recognized trader there has been an even 
 greater increase in the number of those unlicensed 
 public-houses which pass by the courtesy title of 
 ' clubs,' but in many instances, under present-day 
 conditions, are merely alternatives to the legalized 
 houses with the very material difference that they are 
 absolutely outside police supervision and (except in 
 extreme cases) beyond magisterial control; that they 
 have no legal hours ; that they pay no licence duty, and 
 that they are assessed on a much lower scale of value 
 than the ordinary public-houses. Prior to 1903 clubs 
 were not registered, and statistics up to that date were 
 therefore unreliable, though it was stated to the Royal 
 Commission on the Licensing Laws that in 1896 the 
 
 189
 
 igo CLUBS 
 
 number of clubs in England and Wales in which 
 intoxicants were supplied was 3,655, as compared with 
 1,982 in 1887. In 1903 the total number registered 
 was 6,371. By 1904 the number had increased to 
 6,468, and in 1905 it rose still further to 6,554. 
 
 But these figures are less impressive, perhaps, than 
 those referring to individual towns. Statistics show 
 that in 1906 Bradford had 161 clubs, with 44,912 
 members; Leeds 101 clubs, with 27,150 members; 
 Glamorgan 112 clubs, with 25,000 members; Hudders- 
 field 81 clubs, with 20,000 members ; Halifax borough 
 50 clubs, with 14,471 members ; Halifax (West Riding 
 area) 40 clubs, with 5,167 members ; Todmorden Dis- 
 trict 32 clubs, with 2,808 members; York 29 clubs, 
 with 5,070 members; Barnsley 12 clubs, with 2,196 
 members; and so on with practically every town of 
 any importance in the country, while even in small 
 villages the trade in alcoholic beverages is being 
 steadily transferred from the licensed and controlled 
 public-house to the unlicensed and uncontrolled club. 
 
 It has been suggested that the increase in the figures 
 here given is more apparent than real, because, when 
 the Act of 1902 came into force, various masonic 
 lodges and other societies not previously regarded as 
 clubs had to register. No doubt this did occur. But, 
 on the other hand, there was a considerable number of 
 clubs which would not face registration at all, and it is 
 a question to what extent the one item made up for 
 the other. Then, in three years 202 clubs were struck 
 off the register. Further, it should not be too readily 
 assumed that because an institution has a name which 
 suggests that it can only technically be a club requiring 
 registration it may therefore be left out of consideration 
 in reckoning the increase of clubs. It should also be 
 specially noticed that it is not only an increase in the
 
 SOME TYPICAL STATISTICS 191 
 
 number of clubs where intoxicants are supplied which 
 has to be considered, but the increase in membership. 
 Here are two examples from the Brewster Sessions 
 of 1907 : At Consett (Durham) Sessions 'the chairman 
 observed that the magistrates had no control over 
 clubs. The membership was, however, increasing to 
 an alarming degree. The total membership of the 
 clubs in that division was now 12,302, an increase of 
 over 2,000 during the year.' At Halifax an increase 
 of over 1,500 was reported in the membership of the 
 clubs, but a decline (owing to amalgamation) of one in 
 the number of clubs. 
 
 A certain proportion of the increase, as of the total 
 figures, would be due to bona fide clubs, with which no 
 one would wish to interfere ; but there is no doubt that 
 a much larger proportion, especially of those formed 
 of recent years, are of a type that may well rank as 
 ' unlicensed public-houses.' 
 
 Membership of a drinking club is generally obtained 
 in return for a nominal subscription of a few shillings 
 the year. In the case of one club at Oldham, now 
 struck off the register, a single shilling entitled a new- 
 comer to all the privileges of membership for twelve 
 months, and 1,580 persons gave in their names and 
 their shillings in the course of a year. Another club, 
 at Bradford, bought property worth 750, and spent 
 a like amount on alterations ; but was well able to do 
 this, the purchases of liquor by 650 members leaving 
 a clear profit of over 400 a year. 
 
 Inasmuch as the clubs do not come within the 
 operation of the Licensing Acts, they can open and 
 close when they please. Instances have been known 
 where they open at 3 a.m. and close at n p.m. In at 
 least one case each member had a key of the premises, 
 so that he could enter whenever he felt so disposed.
 
 192 CLUBS 
 
 Then, that the clubs should be open on Sundays for 
 from six to nine hours longer than the ordinary public- 
 house is quite a recognized thing. Men will spend the 
 Sunday morning drinking at their ' club,' and, when 
 the public-houses open, will go there for still more 
 liquor. By that time they may already have had 
 too much, and in certain districts the publicans have 
 to station trusty assistants at their door at opening- 
 time on Sundays, lest one of these drunken club 
 members might, possibly, gain admission to the house, 
 with a consequent risk to the licence, should he be 
 found there by a policeman. Sunday concerts and 
 entertainments at the drinking clubs have also become 
 quite a feature in their operations. A programme of 
 one of these functions in London shows that the 
 performers on the occasion in question were of the 
 ordinary music-hall type. It directs special attention 
 to the ' refreshment bar,' saying that ' members and 
 friends will please note price list,' while a further 
 intimation reads : ' The committee desire that children 
 be taken out of the club as early as possible after the 
 entertainment,' presumably in order that the fathers 
 may continue their drinking undisturbed. 
 
 That this phase of the ' club ' business has undergone 
 considerable and widespread development is well 
 shown in an article contributed to the Manchester 
 Evening News of February 15, 1907. As the result of 
 inquiries made by him, the writer of the article finds 
 that variety entertainments and unrestrained drinking 
 go on each Sunday in working-men's clubs 'throughout 
 Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, the whole thing 
 being regarded as a strictly business affair. He gives 
 a form of agreement made between a baritone vocalist 
 and a 'concert secretary,' under which the former 
 agrees to appear ' at the above-mentioned club on
 
 SUNDAY ENTERTAINMENTS 193 
 
 Sunday, January , from 3 p.m. to 6.15 p.m., for the 
 
 sum of and checks/ the latter being exchangeable 
 
 for refreshments ; and he adds to this a list of thirty- 
 seven towns in different parts of the country where 
 Sunday sing-songs are in vogue at the local chibs. He 
 proceeds : 
 
 Each of these institutions is equipped with a small stage. . . . 
 There is a properly appointed chairman and pianist, and an enter- 
 tainment precisely similar to that which a few years ago obtained 
 at a low public-house is given. In one of the Accrington clubs 
 some 700 men will be found almost every Sunday afternoon. 
 Drinking of both beer and spirits is freely indulged in, and, as the 
 club proprietors have no excise licences to pay for, they can afford 
 to sell them cheap. In some of the clubs, after the commence- 
 ment of the entertainment, the price of each drink is raised a half- 
 penny, the theory being that this pays for the artist. It is by no 
 means uncommon for men to leave the clubs at public-house time 
 in such a state of intoxication that the publicans will not serve 
 them. 
 
 The existence of these drinking clubs helps to explain 
 one fact which might otherwise seem inexplicable 
 namely, that while, during the past decade, there has 
 been a decrease of several thousands in the number of 
 on-licences in the country, there has, in some parts of 
 the country, been an increase in the convictions for 
 drunkenness. People who drank in moderation when 
 they were under the eye both of the publican (anxious 
 about his licence) and of the policeman (ever on the 
 look out for offenders), no longer feel the same restraint 
 when they can drink as they please in the privacy of 
 their club. They can also go on drinking there longer 
 than in the public-house, or they can go to their club 
 when the ordinary public-houses close, and stop there 
 till the small hours of the morning, instead of going 
 home at once, as they would probably otherwise do. 
 When, in exceptionally suspicious cases, raids have 
 been made by the police, it has been no uncommon 
 
 13
 
 194 CLUBS 
 
 thing for the place to be found crowded with men in 
 various stages of drunkenness. This was so with a 
 ' musical institute ' visited by the police at Aberdare, 
 and it is not surprising that one of the magistrates 
 before whom the matter came should have declared 
 that, ' speaking generally, one club did more harm 
 than a dozen public-houses.' This view would probably 
 be endorsed by the Chief Constable of Manchester, 
 Mr. Robert Peacock, who, in opening a bazaar at Shaw 
 on the afternoon of February 14, 1907, said : 
 
 He knew from practical experience that clubs were really the 
 cause of a large number of the cases of drunkenness. Last year, 
 in Manchester alone, between the hours of midnight and six o'clock 
 in the morning, 1,375 persons were arrested for drunkenness. The 
 publicans of Manchester were not to blame for it. The people 
 must have obtained the drink at clubs or at private houses, and he 
 did not think there was much drinking done at private houses 
 after twelve o'clock at night. In the case of the last club he had 
 had raided in Manchester, any female could be a member for 2d. a 
 week, and any man for 3d. a week. There were three dances a 
 week, and one of them was held on Sunday afternoon. It was 
 useless putting further restrictions on the publicans if the clubs 
 were left free. 
 
 Harm is done, however, in other ways besides 
 causing drunkenness, for there is reason to believe that 
 a good deal of gambling is sometimes indulged in, and 
 that many of the clubs are made use of by betting men, 
 who more especially regard them as harbours of refuge 
 from police interference in the streets. In Glamorgan 
 it has further been asserted that in crowded centres 
 some clubs are so managed that working-men are 
 precluded from obtaining employment unless they 
 become members. 
 
 It is sufficiently obvious that any good done in 
 reducing the number of licensed houses may be more 
 than nullified by the corresponding increase in the 
 number of unlicensed ones, since the latter represent
 
 SECRET DRINKING 195 
 
 the substitution of secret and uncontrolled for public 
 and controlled drinking. It is no less obvious that 
 the whole system represents a great injustice to the 
 legalized trade, which, after making great sacrifices in 
 the interests of public-house reduction, finds itself faced 
 by competition of the severest possible type, since the 
 clubs operate with everything in their favour, while 
 the public-houses are severely handicapped alike by 
 magisterial supervision, police control, and heavy 
 taxation. Equally certain is it that the changes now 
 being brought about in the increasing resort to secret 
 drinking cannot fail to be detrimental to the best 
 interests of society. 
 
 When we pass on to inquire as to the possible 
 reasons for these changes, we meet with certain factors 
 which are no less deserving of serious consideration. 
 The increase in the number of clubs has, undoubtedly, 
 been coincident with (i) the decrease in the number 
 of licensed houses; (2) the severe, if not sometimes 
 the drastic, manner in which the licensing laws are 
 administered ; (3) the greater restrictions imposed ; 
 and (4), owing, no doubt, to magisterial and other local 
 influences, the greater zeal of the police in carrying 
 out their supervision. 
 
 i. Whatever the justification for decreasing the 
 number of licensed houses, one inevitable effect even 
 of abolishing the small beer-shops, which could, 
 apparently, well be spared, has been the displacement 
 of many a little coterie of individuals accustomed to 
 spend their leisure in one another's society, and such 
 coteries may have been readily disposed to join, or to 
 form themselves into, small clubs with a view to main- 
 taining the old fellowship. When, again, magistrates 
 have refused to grant licences for new suburban dis- 
 tricts, local residents have had to resort to other means 
 
 132
 
 ig6 CLUBS 
 
 of obtaining both reasonable refreshment and oppor- 
 tunities for social intercourse, and so have naturally 
 resorted to the formation of a club. 
 
 2. The drastic administration of the licensing laws, 
 coupled with the attitude taken up by the extreme 
 sections of the temperance party, has cast a certain 
 stigma on the public-house, so that men in no way dis- 
 posed to give up the use of alcoholic beverages have 
 been ready enough to avail themselves of any oppor- 
 tunity that may be offered for obtaining them elsewhere; 
 and, from this point of view, no better opportunity 
 could be presented to them than membership of a club. 
 ' I shall look in at my club ' is thought to sound more 
 respectable, and to meet temperance sentiment better, 
 than ' I am going to the Spotted Dog ' ; though it may 
 happen that the individual having this choice of phrases 
 would be much more likely to get drunk at the former 
 place than at the latter. 
 
 3. As for the restrictions enforced, these have tended 
 more and more to reduce public-houses to mere places 
 for the consumption of drink. Games of all kinds 
 (except billiards) are rigidly proscribed. Even dominoes 
 and air-guns seem to be regarded as having hidden 
 dangers which must not be allowed to develop them- 
 selves ; and if patrons of a house which does not 
 possess a billiard-table want to do more than drink, 
 smoke, and talk, they are not likely to find much further 
 recreation open to them than that of looking at the 
 illustrated papers. But man is something more than a 
 creature with a thirst to quench. He is possessed of 
 social instincts as well, and these may cause him to 
 visit a public-house (to find there companionship and 
 entertainment) quite as much as his need for liquid 
 refreshment. While, therefore, the public -house of 
 to-day, under the existing system of severe restrictions,
 
 THE SENSE OF FREEDOM 197 
 
 still satisfies the one feeling (which alone is generally 
 recognized by licensing magistrates and teetotallers), it 
 may fail to satisfy the other. In a club, on the other 
 hand, there is a sense of freedom which naturally 
 appeals to the English temperament; though, when 
 such sense of freedom is at last enjoyed, it may readily 
 happen that, from the one extreme of severe repression 
 men will allow their newly acquired liberty to drift into 
 the other extreme of licence. Is it not an historical 
 fact that the severities of the Puritans were followed by 
 the excesses of the Restoration ? And may it not be 
 that the same lesson, though in a different manner, is 
 being repeated to-day ? 
 
 4. Concerning the stricter police supervision, there 
 is no doubt that this has been mainly due to pressure 
 from outside the force ; but in certain instances, at 
 least, it has assumed such forms that one cannot be 
 surprised at Englishmen cherishing a spirit of resent- 
 ment, and making their escape to places where they 
 can empty their glass free from police control. It is an 
 admitted fact that in one town in the North a former 
 chief constable and his officers subjected the public- 
 houses to an amount and a kind of visitation which' 
 became repugnant in the extreme alike to landlords and 
 customers. Entering a smoke-room, they would call 
 upon all the men there to stand up and arrange them- 
 selves in semi-military fashion, so that it might be seen 
 whether or not they could hold themselves erect, any 
 swaying or divergence from the perpendicular being 
 regarded as an indication that they were ' the worse for 
 liquor.' In the result a ' Recreation Club ' was formed 
 in the town, four houses being bought to provide com- 
 fortable quarters, and the club soon had a membership 
 of 1,000 persons. 
 
 In another town in the North of England it was, up
 
 ig8 CLUBS 
 
 to a short time ago, the practice of plain-clothes police- 
 men (specially delegated to public-house supervision) 
 to go to a man standing at the bar, deliberately turn 
 him round, and look at him well in order to judge 
 better of his condition. If the man got angry, this was 
 regarded as certain proof that he had had too much, 
 and the landlord might think himself fortunate if he 
 escaped prosecution for serving a drunken man. These 
 practices excited so much ill-feeling that after a time 
 they were abolished ; but it still remained customary 
 for the plain-clothes policemen to go round the rooms 
 and peer into the face of each and every customer to 
 see whether or not he was really sober. 
 
 In the various conditions here set forth it is really 
 not surprising that even working-men should be taking 
 readily to club life, and be entering into the joys thereof 
 with much more freedom than discretion. What is 
 actually happening is that, in a quiet way, a distinct 
 revolt has set in on the part of considerable sections of 
 the British people against the severities of one kind and 
 another that are being enforced in order to curtail their 
 liberties in choosing for themselves the particular 
 beverages in which they may indulge. They cannot 
 fight against the law, but they will do all they can to 
 evade it. If they are not to be allowed to have a glass 
 of beer or spirits comfortably, and under reasonable 
 conditions, in a public-house, they will obtain it else- 
 where. If they may not hope to escape more or less 
 ' control,' ' supervision ' one might almost add ' perse- 
 cution ' when they drink in public, they will resort to 
 the expediency of drinking in private ; and history and 
 human nature both suggest that the new conditions are 
 likely to be somewhat worse than the old. 
 
 That an undesirable state of things, provocative of 
 much drunkenness and other evils, has already been
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF THE SITUATION 199 
 
 brought about is only too evident. How is it to be 
 met ? By a further resort to that severely repressive 
 legislation and to that equally severe supervision which 
 have already done little more than diffuse what they 
 were intended to abolish ? Is there really any reason- 
 able hope that they would now succeed ? Are there 
 not also practical difficulties in the way ? Theoretically, 
 the members of the working classes are as much 
 entitled as their social superiors to form clubs among 
 themselves. If certain of those clubs are of so crude a 
 type that they cannot be defended, a little experience 
 will soon show how they can be improved. If, again, a 
 system of inspection is to be introduced, it would be 
 necessary to apply it to clubs of every type, and not 
 simply to those patronized exclusively by working-men. 
 Even then such a system could not do very much more 
 than make it unlawful for people to get drunk at their 
 clubs. So long as they drank only in moderation, 
 working-men would still be as much entitled to have 
 their clubs as anyone else. So long, too, as the 
 members of leading clubs in London can have their 
 brandy - flask filled there for 'off' consumption, or 
 arrange to have hampers sent to them at the Derby, 
 workmen will have an equal right to buy liquor at 
 their clubs for consumption at home. 
 
 The difficulty of drawing distinctions and avoiding 
 ' class legislation ' will be almost insuperable. In a 
 speech delivered at Westgate-on-Sea on January n, 
 1907, Mr. H. H. Marks, M.P., mentioned that in the case 
 of the National Liberal Club the receipts from sales of 
 provisions, wines, etc., cigars, and cards in one year 
 (the report does not say which) were 33,183, the profit 
 thereon being 8,703, which saved the club from a loss 
 on the year's working of 8,313. It is quite conceivable 
 that an argument would be adduced from these figures
 
 200 CLUBS 
 
 by the leaders of any working-men's clubs which it was 
 sought to abolish on the ground that they were kept 
 going by the money spent on refreshments. In any 
 case, it is certain that a Government attempting to 
 suppress workmen's clubs, whether with or without 
 interference with the clubs patronized by the members 
 of the middle and upper classes, will have a difficult, if 
 not, from a political standpoint, a dangerous, problem 
 before them. 
 
 On the other hand, unless the question is taken in 
 hand and dealt with as effectively as may be, more 
 repression and more restriction enforced against the 
 public-houses that are licensed will inevitably lead to 
 a still further increase in the number of those that 
 are not.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 'TEMPERANCE' TEACHING IN SCHOOLS 
 
 FINDING that the advocacy of their extreme views of 
 total abstinence is securing fewer converts among adults 
 capable of forming an independent judgment thereon 
 than they could desire, the teetotal party in Great 
 Britain is making a strong effort to promote the teach- 
 ing of ' temperance ' to school-children, such teaching 
 being added to the list of regular subjects on which 
 instruction is to be given during the ordinary school 
 hours. So far has this movement already gone that 
 Sir Victor Horsley, of University College, London, 
 informed the members of the Ontario Branch of the 
 Dominion Temperance Alliance, on the occasion of a 
 luncheon given at Toronto in August, 1906, in honour 
 of the British Medical Association, that three years 
 previously the medical profession throughout the 
 United Kingdom issued a petition to the Government 
 asking it to introduce compulsory teaching in domestic 
 hygiene and temperance in the elementary schools ; 
 and he added that ' the feeling in the old country that 
 every child should be taught the elements of domestic 
 hygiene and temperance was overwhelmingly strong, 
 and had produced a very powerful effect on the Govern- 
 ment.' Since then various other attempts have been 
 made to influence the Government in the same direc- 
 
 20 1
 
 tion. The possibility, therefore, of this ' very powerful 
 effect ' being transformed into definite action invests 
 with special interest the results of a careful, if not 
 exhaustive, inquiry into the United States system of 
 compulsory ' scientific temperance education ' made by 
 a sub-committee of ' The Committee of Fifty to Investi- 
 gate the Liquor Problem.' 
 
 The system in question had its origin in 1879, when 
 Mrs. Mary H. Hunt presented to the National Conven- 
 tion of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 
 a scheme for 'thorough text-book study of scientific 
 temperance in public schools as a preventive against 
 intemperance.' A standing committee, with Mrs. Hunt 
 as chairman, appointed to carry this scheme into effect, 
 was reorganized in 1880 as a ' Department of Scientific 
 Temperance Instruction in Schools and Colleges,' Mrs. 
 Hunt then becoming ' national superintendent ' in place 
 of the standing committee. Eight years later the move- 
 ment was incorporated as a department of the World's 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Mrs. Hunt 
 assuming the title of ' National and International 
 Superintendent,' while the work was now spread to 
 ' twenty different countries besides the United States.' 
 An Advisory Board of educators, reformers, physicians, 
 and clergymen was created to assist Mrs. Hunt in her 
 propaganda, and especially to give its * approval and 
 endorsement ' to the text-books on the basis of which 
 the teaching was to be founded. The movement 
 thus, as the sub-committee point out, ' had behind 
 it the powerful* influence of the text-book publishing 
 firms throughout the country.' It was avowedly a 
 teetotal movement, and the sub-committee say that, 
 ' as is generally the case when feeling and preju- 
 
 * 'And,' the report might have added, 'perhaps not "disin 
 terested" '
 
 A POLICY OF MISREPRESENTATION 203 
 
 dice run high, the temptation has been irresistible to 
 either manufacture evidence or stretch it over points 
 that it does not cover; to call " scientific" everything 
 that happens to agree with particular prejudices, and 
 to relegate to the limbo of human error all the evidence 
 that appears for the other side.' The promoters, never- 
 theless, secured such measure of support that nearly all 
 the States in the Union enacted laws to enforce 
 ' scientific temperance education.' The promoters also 
 arranged for the issue of ' approved and endorsed ' 
 public-school books, in series of three or four, such 
 approval and endorsement being given by Mrs. Hunt 
 and the Advisory Board ; but as to the nature of these 
 text-books the committee speak in terms of strong dis- 
 approval. The physiological teaching of the ' endorsed 
 and approved' differs entirely from that of the ' standard ' 
 text-books. Thus, one of the latter (W. H. Howell's 
 ' American Text-book of Physiology,' 1896) states : ' It 
 may, perhaps, be said with safety that in small quanti- 
 ties it (alcohol) is beneficial, or at least not injurious, 
 barring the danger of acquiring an alcohol habit, while 
 in large quantities it is directly injurious to various 
 tissues '; whereas in one of the ' endorsed and approved ' 
 text-books it is said : ' Alcohol is universally ranked 
 among poisons by physiologists, chemists, physicians, 
 toxicologists, and all who have experimented, studied, 
 and written upon the subject, and who, therefore, best 
 understand it.' Then, Fothergill's ' Practitioner's Hand- 
 book of Treatment ' (London, 1897) savs : ' ^ n practice 
 we find that in many persons a small quantity of 
 alcohol improves digestion, and that a meal by its 
 means can be digested which would be wasted ' ; while 
 American school-children are taught in their com- 
 pulsory temperance lessons : ' Alcohol is not a food 
 or drink. Medical writers, without exception, class
 
 alcohol as a poison. 1 Here are some other examples 
 of the sort of thing that passes for ' temperance teach- 
 ing ' in American schools : 
 
 ' Alcohol sometimes causes the coats of the bloodvessels to grow 
 thin. They are then liable at anytime to cause death by bursting.' 
 
 ' Worse than all, when alcohol is constantly used it may slowly 
 change the muscles of the heart into fat. Such a heart cannot be 
 so strong as if it were all muscle. It is sometimes so soft that 
 a finger could easily be pushed through its walls. You can 
 think what would happen if it is made to work a little harder than 
 usual. It is liable to stretch and stop beating, and this would 
 cause sudden death.' 
 
 ' Many people are made crazy by the use of alcoholic liquors. 
 In some asylums where these people are kept it has been found 
 that nearly one-half of the crazy people were made crazy from this 
 cause. Not all of these were drinkers themselves. It often happens 
 that the children of those who drink have weak minds or become 
 crazy as they grow older.' 
 
 ' Sometimes the stomach is so hurt by alcohol that the drinker 
 dies.' 
 
 ' There is one form of this disease, called alcoholic consumption, 
 which is caused by alcohol. The drinker looks well, till suddenly 
 comes a " dropped stitch," or a pain in the side ; then follows 
 difficulty of breathing and vomiting of blood ; then a rapid passage 
 to the grave, for medicine, food, change of air, all prove useless.' 
 
 ' A noted murderer confessed that never but once did he feel 
 any remorse ; then he was about to kill a babe, and the little 
 creature looked up into his face and smiled. " But," he said, " I 
 drank a large glass of brandy, and then I didn't care." ' 
 
 These are just a few representative samples of the 
 sort of teaching given in the approved text-books ; but 
 they ' seem to indicate,' the sub-committee say in their 
 report, ' that the text-books are written with a deliberate 
 purpose to frighten the children the younger the better 
 so thoroughly that they will avoid all contact with 
 alcohol, an attempt fraught with danger on account 
 of the natural reaction of healthy children, boys 
 especially, to such exaggerated statements. . . . The 
 books, especially those intended for the lower grades, 
 fairly bristle with statements of a character to work 
 upon the fears of the reader, and remind one in this 
 respect of patent medicine advertisements.' To give
 
 RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM 205 
 
 greater weight to such statements, and also to flatter 
 the vanity of the individuals who compile them, the 
 leaders of the movement describe the writers of the 
 text-books, or the individuals who favour their views, 
 by such terms as ' greatest living authority,' ' foremost 
 scientist,' ' author of great prominence,' ' most skilled 
 in his profession,' ' eminent scholar,' etc., though the 
 report significantly tells us that these phrases are rarely, 
 if ever, applied to persons who are recognized by men 
 of science as authorities on the question. 
 
 As regards the actual results of scientific temperance 
 instruction in the schools, several investigations have 
 been made by or among those concerned in the work 
 of education in the United States. 
 
 Mr. George H. Martin, agent of the Massachusetts 
 State Board of Education, personally examined schools 
 in which the temperance instruction had been given, 
 and, among the conclusions at which he arrived, he 
 found that, while the ' sentiment ' was good, the out- 
 come in accurate knowledge resulting from much of the 
 work done was meagre and out of all proportion to the 
 time spent upon it; and ' that where exaggerated notions 
 of the effects of stimulants have been acquired, there is 
 danger of a reaction of sentiment in the light of after- 
 knowledge.' 
 
 Another investigation was made in Massachusetts by 
 Dr. G. W. Fitz, who, in answer to letters of inquiry 
 he sent out, received replies from 83 cities and towns, 
 representing 113,000 children and 4,000 teachers. An 
 analysis of the answers to the question, ' What are 
 the results of this (temperance) instruction ?' shows 
 ' Excellent, if well taught,' 2 per cent.; 'good,' n per 
 cent.; 'medium,' 15 per cent.; 'little,' 14 per cent.; 
 ' none,' 55 per cent.; ' bad,' 3 per cent. To the further 
 question, ' What value has the instruction in mental
 
 206 'TEMPERANCE' TEACHING IN SCHOOLS 
 
 and moral discipline ?' the answers were ' Great,' i per 
 cent.; ' good,' 16 per cent.; ' as much as other subjects,' 
 24 per cent.; ' little,' 31 per cent.; ' none,' 28 per cent. 
 
 The sub-committee of the Committee of Fifty also 
 made an independent inquiry among the teachers of 
 New York, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin, the total 
 replies to the following questions being as stated : 
 
 1. ' Do you approve the teaching of alcohol physiology 
 as promoted by the department of scientific temperance 
 instruction of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union?' 'Yes,' 54; 'no,' 119. 
 
 2. ' Do you favour such instruction being made com- 
 pulsory by State law ?' ' Yes,' 57 ; ' no,' 104. 
 
 3. 'What do you think of the "approved and en- 
 dorsed " school physiologies ?' ' Good,' 47 ; ' bad,' 86. 
 
 4. ' In your opinion are results of the instruction 
 now given good or bad ?' ' Good,' 59 ; ' bad,' 84. 
 
 As typical of the opinions of the teachers on the 
 approved text-books, the sub-committee quote a few 
 replies to the third question from teachers in each of 
 the three States. The following answers from New 
 York State (where the law is ' very stringent ') are 
 especially significant : 
 
 ' Most of them are pernicious, scientifically and ethically.' 
 
 ' I find that, according to our best authority, the successful 
 physician, they are inaccurate and unscientific. 1 
 
 'They are very much exaggerated.' 
 
 ' They are worse than useless. They defeat the very object for 
 which the Woman's Christian Temperance Union labours. They 
 entirely suppress the few beneficial effects of alcohol, and unduly 
 exaggerate the evil effects. All youths pass through an age of 
 unbelief, of cynicism, of agnosticism. This age generally conies 
 during the latter part of the high-school course. When they learn 
 from authoritative sources of the benefits of alcohol the reaction is 
 marked. They immediately question the truth of the evils of 
 alcohol, and term what the books teach "a lie." Such has been 
 my experience.' 
 
 ' In many cases they do not stand the searchlight of scientific 
 truth, besides containing disgusting details.'
 
 UNFAVOURABLE CONCLUSIONS 207 
 
 ' I should judge many of them to be extravagantly inaccurate as 
 regards alcohol, according to the teachings of the University 
 of .' 
 
 ' So far as I have examined them I believe them to be unscientific, 
 and in some instances ridiculous.' 
 
 ' They are extreme; hence they do not serve the purpose intended.' 
 
 In giving the conclusion at which they arrive on this 
 particular question, the sub-committee say : 
 
 It is thus apparent that, under the name of ' Scientific Temper- 
 ance Instruction,' there has been grafted upon the public-school 
 system of nearly all our States an educational scheme relating 
 to alcohol which is neither scientific, nor temperate, nor instructive. 
 Failing to observe the diametrically opposite conceptions of "use" 
 and " abuse," some of its advocates have not hesitated to teach our 
 children that the terrible results of a prolonged abuse of alcohol 
 may be expected to follow any departure from the strict rules of 
 total abstinence. The success which has attended the efforts of 
 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to secure the desired 
 legislation may be readily explained by the sympathy sure to be 
 felt by all intelligent people for any sincere attempt to combat one 
 of the most gigantic evils of modern times. There can be no doubt 
 that the abuse of alcohol is a threat to our civilization, and any 
 honest effort to diminish its consumption is certain to be welcomed 
 without any very critical examination of the methods employed. 
 That the originators of this educational scheme were honest in 
 their intentions there is no reason to doubt; but they have violated 
 sound principles of pedagogy in forcing subjects upon the attention 
 of children at an age when their minds cannot possibly be adapted 
 to comprehend them, and have shown themselves absolutely in- 
 different to the demoralization of our educational system resulting 
 from forcing teachers to give instruction in a way which their 
 experience has shown them to be ill-adapted to accomplish the 
 ends in view, and from compelling children to memorize statements 
 sure to be contradicted by the experience of their later lives. 
 
 It may fairly be assumed that many sympathetic 
 people in the United States supported this particular 
 scheme in the first instance because they thought the 
 idea a good one, and were impressed by the apparent 
 excellence of the motive, without stopping to inquire as 
 to the special conditions under which it would be carried 
 out. They could not have foreseen that those operating 
 the movement would stoop to such gross exaggera- 
 tions, if not deliberate misrepresentations, with the idea,
 
 208 'TEMPERANCE' TEACHING IN SCHOOLS 
 
 apparently, that the end would justify the means ; nor 
 could they have anticipated that the policy in question, 
 while aiming at securing public benefits, would bring 
 about results that were unspeakably bad and eminently 
 calculated to deprive the temperance cause of the respect 
 of those whom, in their younger days, it had been sought 
 to ' capture/ Whatever may be the views of Sir Victor 
 Horsley, and of the other medical men who may agree 
 therewith, the British Government would be ill-advised 
 if they made any attempt, in this respect at least, to 
 follow American example, or allowed the extreme 
 teetotal party any loophole for repeating here the ill- 
 advised tactics adopted by the propagandists on the 
 other side of the Atlantic. 
 
 To the foregoing I will only add that the confusion 
 of ideas which this ' temperance ' teaching may develop 
 in immature minds, unable rightly to understand the 
 questions on which the so-called instruction is given, 
 was well shown at Hull recently, on the occasion of a 
 competition among school-children for a prize offered 
 to them for the best essay on the evils of drink. Some 
 12,660 children competed, and I give below a few 
 examples of the reflections in which these juvenile 
 moralists indulged : 
 
 ' When a man is overcome by drink he should be taken, or go to 
 a hot place.' 
 
 ' Seafaring men who are in the habit of drinking are liable to 
 collide with other vessels.' 
 
 ' To-day many people are in gaol for committing suicide while 
 under the influence of drink.' 
 
 ' Alcohol has an effect upon a medical man's conclusions.' 
 
 ' Doctors say that fatal diseases are the worst.' 
 
 ' Doctors say that the increased death-rate shortens lives.' 
 
 ' Some men turns into lunatices, and have to go to the Lunatic of 
 Sylum.' 
 
 ' Some people think that the abuse of drink is right ; some take 
 it as a medicine.' 
 
 ' Alcohol is a mocker. At last it biteth like a servant and stingeth 
 like a hatter.'
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 ASSUMING that the prohibitionists, with the help of 
 their political sympathizers, succeeded in bringing about 
 a total or, falling short of that, a material suppression 
 of the trade in alcoholic beverages, what other drinks 
 would they propose to substitute in the place thereof? 
 
 In considering this essentially practical phase of the 
 general question, we have to bear in mind the particular 
 purposes served by the said alcoholic beverages. In 
 the first place, they satisfy the physical sensation of 
 thirst ; secondly, they respond to the instinctive desire 
 for a stimulant ; and, thirdly, they are supplied in a 
 form that makes them readily available, without special 
 preparation. The ideal substitutes should meet all 
 these purposes. Even the prohibitionists would not 
 attempt to suppress ' the physical sensation of thirst ' 
 by Act of Parliament, though they do seem to cherish 
 the delusion that the natural craving for a stimulant, 
 apart from actual thirst, may be abolished by adequately 
 repressive legislative effort. They must admit, also, 
 that the best substitutes will be found in those that can 
 be furnished promptly, and without trouble, whenever 
 they are required. A fourth condition is that the ideal 
 substitutes should themselves be wholesome, and not 
 (at least) more injurious to the human system, if at all, 
 than those whose place they are to take. 
 
 209 14
 
 210 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 If the matter were, indeed, one solely of alleviating 
 thirst, our wants could be supplied by cold water, sub- 
 ject to the proviso that the purity thereof was beyond 
 all doubt a proviso which is of the greater importance, 
 considering that the germs of typhoid fever, cholera, 
 and various other diseases, are especially spread by 
 means of drinking-water, and that the water-supply of 
 many foreign countries visited by English travellers is 
 far from being above suspicion. But whilst cold water 
 alone might satisfy the purely physical requirements of 
 the human system in regard to liquid nourishment, just 
 as it meets those of the animal world in general, it would 
 not exercise the special functions of a ' stimulant ' from 
 either a psychological or a social standpoint, and thus 
 would fail to satisfy the wants of our common nature, as 
 long as man remains the being he is. 
 
 But for the fact that they require the aforesaid ' spe- 
 cial preparation,' tea and coffee undoubtedly come 
 nearest to the ideal substitute. They not only allay 
 thirst, but they also act as, and are, literally, stimulants. 
 The good service they render, when taken in modera- 
 tion, is undeniable. They do not, however, meet all 
 the social and other requirements that are served by 
 wine, spirits, and beer ; they are not suitable for all 
 occasions, and they have their pernicious results, just 
 the same as in the case of alcoholic drinks, when taken, 
 as they often are, to excess. 
 
 Much has been heard from time to time concerning 
 experiments as to the effect of alcohol on animals, but 
 there have also been investigations into the effects on 
 animals of the alkaloid caffein, or theine, which is found 
 in tea. These have shown that, given to frogs, the 
 alkaloid produces tetanus, while, when very large doses 
 are administered, the tetanic convulsions are succeeded 
 by paralysis and death. As regards the possible effects
 
 TEA AND COFFEE 2.1.1 
 
 of tea on the human system, Sir Lauder Brunton, M.D., 
 says in his book ' On Disorders of Assimilation, Diges- 
 tion,' etc. : 
 
 In large quantity tea causes sleeplessness, and, in larger still, 
 produces excitement of the circulation and such a disturbance of the 
 nervous system that the patient suffers from hallucinations of vision 
 and trembling of the muscles, somewhat resembling that in delirium 
 tremens. These symptoms are produced much more readily by 
 green than by black tea. In some exceptional cases the suscepti- 
 bility to the action of tea is so great that a few cups of green tea 
 will bring on marked muscular tremors. Others, again, are so 
 readily rendered wakeful by tea that they cannot drink a cup of tea 
 after two o'clock in the day. Sometimes people suffer from 
 sleeplessness without understanding the reason, when it is really 
 due to their having drunk mixed tea instead of black. . . . Poor 
 women, who are much underfed, and whose only comfort is a cup 
 of tea, generally take it very hot, so as to add the stimulant effect of 
 warmth on the circulation to the stimulant effect of the tea on the 
 nervous system. The same class of people are accustomed to take 
 their tea not only hot, but strong, and, in order that no particle of 
 its virtue may be lost, they infuse it for a very long time. In this 
 way they extract a quantity of the tannin, and the combined effects 
 of the tannin and the excessively hot tea upon the stomach produce 
 a condition of dyspepsia. 
 
 Concerning coffee, the same authority says : 
 
 Coffee is more apt than tea to disorder the digestion in many 
 people, and in some is apt to cause a condition of biliousness. 
 When taken to excess it not only produces digestive disturbance, 
 but nervous symptoms, palpitation, restlessness, irritability, sleep- 
 lessness, and general nervous depression. . . . 
 
 In most cases of dyspepsia coffee does not agree, and from 
 its tendency to excite the nervous system it should also be avoided 
 by those who are liable to suffer from various forms of nervous 
 disturbance, such as functional palpitation of the heart and liability 
 to attacks of neuralgia, hysteria, or epilepsy. 
 
 Coffee is not only often adulterated by admixture with other sub- 
 stances, but sometimes fraudulent imitations, which do not contain a 
 particle of coffee, are sold under its name. The most common 
 adulteration of coffee is chicory. . . . Some coffees are made entirely 
 of roasted figs. Other adulterations are roasted wheat and beans, 
 flour, acorns, mangel-wurzel. To give it a colour burnt sugar is added. 
 Some coffee is entirely made out of such substances. If no other 
 adulterations are present, these substances are not actually injurious 
 to health, only they have not the stimulating action of coffee. The 
 infusion made with them is, in fact, a kind of toast and water, the 
 burnt toast being replaced by burnt flour or burnt roots. 
 
 14 2
 
 212 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 In the case of tea and coffee, therefore, one can say 
 that, taken in moderation, they serve a useful purpose ; 
 taken in excess, they do harm ; while there are certain 
 individuals who should not indulge in one or other of 
 them at all. But this is precisely what the vast majority 
 of people would say concerning alcoholic beverages, 
 and in regard to one, at least, of these the working- 
 man's beer there could be no suggestion of the use of 
 any such adulterants as those spoken of by Sir Lauder 
 Brunton in respect to coffee. 
 
 I pass on now to consider the position occupied by 
 those aerated and mineral waters which more especially 
 come into consideration when one discusses possible 
 substitutes, since these waters, unlike tea and coffee, 
 can be presented, without special preparation, imme- 
 diately on demand, and therefore do offer the same 
 advantages as bottled beer, wine, or spirits, in regard to 
 sale or transport. 
 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, to give really trust- 
 worthy data as to the actual extent of the mineral water 
 industry, no official statistics thereon being available. 
 There is, however, reasonable ground for the estimate 
 that, whereas half a century ago there were scarcely 
 fifty manufacturers of them, to-day there are about 
 4,000. According to Mr. William Kirkby, as stated in 
 his book, ' The Evolution of Artificial Mineral Waters,' 
 there are in the United Kingdom about 23,000 persons 
 directly engaged in the manufacture of these waters, 
 while in London alone the number employed indirectly 
 that is, in branches of trade more or less dependent 
 upon the mineral water industry is put at 25,000. As 
 for the quantities produced, it was stated in the House 
 of Commons on June 2, 1891, that the consumption of 
 aerated and other temperance drinks in this country 
 amounted to 20,000,000 dozen bottles per annum.
 
 GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY 213 
 
 That was sixteen years ago, and one may be quite sure 
 that production and consumption have greatly increased 
 since then. 
 
 We have here, therefore, at least a general idea of 
 the way the industry has grown, and the position to 
 which it has attained among the industries of the 
 country. It is obvious, however, that for this position 
 the mineral water trade is mainly indebted to the tee- 
 total campaign, and that it stands to benefit from 
 any fresh discredit which may be cast upon alcoholic 
 beverages, and from any further substantial increase 
 in the number of ' abstainers.' There are certainly 
 suggestions though one cannot prove whether or not 
 they are well founded that the teetotal campaign may 
 have been encouraged by mineral water makers as a 
 matter of trade rivalry and business enterprise. Be 
 this as it may, the direction in which the sympathies, 
 at least, of the mineral water manufacturers are likely 
 to tend is indicated by the following remarks in the 
 course of an article, ' On the Road,' published in the 
 Mineral Water Trade Review for February 18, 1907 : 
 
 All manner of legislation for the encouragement of temperance 
 is in the wind, and this should be good news for the aerator. I have 
 heard it suggested by a living authority that any legislation affect- 
 ing the wine, beer, and spirit trade would not affect the aerator. 
 Also that the total abolition of the tied-house system would not be 
 to the aerator's profit. I fail to see the argument. Personally, I 
 am of opinion, from what I know of the trade throughout the 
 country, that any Act of Parliament bursting the iron bands that 
 brewers have forged round their managers and tenants will open 
 the road for the sale of more ' minerals.' . . . By the abolition of 
 the tied-house system the sale of ' minerals ' would be as real 
 an asset as beers. 
 
 It does not follow that the ' temperance drinks ' 
 produced in the increasing quantities indicated are 
 consumed exclusively by teetotallers. It is probable, 
 for example, that more soda water is drunk with whisky
 
 214 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 than without. But, speaking generally, temperance 
 drinks are especially favoured by teetotallers, who con- 
 sider that they are perfectly safe in using them, and 
 are apt to pity, if not to despise, those who still keep 
 to their glass of beer or other alcoholic liquor ; and 
 there is no doubt that the great increase in the trade is 
 due mainly, though not exclusively, to the advance 
 in the teetotal movement in this country. From the 
 standpoint of the abstainers, therefore, it is desirable 
 to inquire what is the real nature of the bottled 
 beverages on which they depend ; while from the stand- 
 point of the world in general one may ask how the 
 said beverages compare with those that are avowedly 
 alcoholic, and whether or not they can be generally 
 accepted as adequate and desirable substitutes for the 
 latter. 
 
 The severest criticism of the mineral water trade 
 comes, not from the makers and purveyors of intoxi- 
 cants, as the teetotal party might assume would be the 
 case, but from within the trade itself. In the intro- 
 duction to a little volume of recipes issued some years 
 ago by a leading firm of dealers in essences, etc., for 
 mineral water manufacturers, due account is taken of 
 the great progress which has been made in the various 
 departments, but the writers proceed : 
 
 We regret exceedingly that the great competition amongst 
 mineral water manufacturers is causing them to reduce materially 
 the quality of their manufactures. The sugar is stinted, the bottles 
 are made to hold less than their proper quantity, low-priced and 
 deleterious flavouring-agents are used, the water is badly and 
 slovenly aerated, and, lastly, mineral acids are sometimes sub- 
 stituted for the fruit acids, the result being that some beverages 
 offered for sale are a scandal to the trade. But who reaps the 
 advantage ? Only the retail dealer, who does not reduce his price 
 to the public, so the latter suffers by receiving a much inferior 
 article. Then, again, we cannot impress upon the mineral water 
 maker too strongly the importance of using the best quality of 
 sugar. Inferior qualities are incompletely purified, so there often
 
 CRITICISMS FROM WITHIN 215 
 
 exist traces of the various chemicals used in their purification, and 
 also traces of vegetable matter, which cause the beverage to 
 become cloudy, and often cause fermentation to set in after 
 bottling. . . . 
 
 There is no doubt whatever the mineral water trade has a most 
 prosperous future before it, providing the beverages offered to the 
 public are made palatable, tempting, and wholesome. But this end 
 is obtainable by the use only of the best sugar, the purest water, 
 fruit acids, and the finest flavouring matter (upon which the palat- 
 ability of the drink depends). 
 
 There would seem to be special difficulties and risks 
 in the making of mineral waters, just as there are in 
 the production of alcoholic liquors, for the booklet goes 
 on to say : 
 
 There are numerous kinds of fermentation which trouble the 
 mineral water maker in all seasons, and even cause him great loss 
 and anxiety one kind especially, that of mucous fermentation, 
 where the whole contents of the bottle become one gelatinous mass. 
 A little vegetable matter in the sugar, an unclean bottle containing 
 a fermenting germ, the syrup pan not being absolutely clean, are 
 all reasons for causing fermentation. 
 
 Reverting, later on, to this subject of mucoid fermen- 
 tation, the booklet further states : 
 
 It is a true fermentation set up by living structures, just as 
 the alcoholic fermentation is set up by the yeast plant. It is more 
 readily propagated with beet than with cane sugars, and experi- 
 ments on the subject show that it can be more easily propagated with 
 crude than with refined sugars ; a trace of phosphates in the sugar 
 aids considerably the growth when once started. How these living 
 germs are conveyed into the aerated beverage it is difficult to say ; 
 they may exist in a dormant state in the sugar, or even in the air, 
 and when once the fermentation gets into the mineral water factory 
 it is very difficult to get out ; it comes as a sort of pest or disease. 
 Everything, therefore, must be thoroughly overhauled or disinfected 
 pots, pans, machinery, tanks, and vessels of every description 
 and the beverages strongly dosed with antiseptics until the plague 
 is removed, and then the ordinary amount of preservative added to 
 the drinks can be resumed. 
 
 Nor is it very appetizing to read the following note 
 in regard to the syrups of which aerated waters largely 
 consist :
 
 216 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 Do not let the syrups stand about exposed, as, in addition to the 
 numerous bees, wasps, and flies, which generally infest the mineral 
 water factory, finding their last resting-place in the syrup, it 
 also becomes tainted with the ferment germs and dust in the air. 
 
 In a similar booklet, issued by another wholesale 
 firm, one may read : 
 
 It is obvious that good aerated waters and cordials cannot 
 be made without good essences, and the better the essences the 
 better results will the aerated water maker achieve. 
 
 There is one point in particular we should like our friends to be 
 quite clear about. When we advertise and guarantee in our price- 
 list any essential oil or essence to be genuine, it is genuine, and not 
 adulterated. . . . We should also wish it to be understood that we have 
 never had a single gallon of methylated spirit on our premises, and 
 that all our essences are, and always have been, made from the finest 
 rectified spirit, and not from illegally purified methylated spirit. It 
 is, unfortunately, the fact that this partially purified methylated 
 spirit has been used for such purposes, and we draw special atten- 
 tion to the fact because the users as well as the makers and vendors 
 of such essences are liable to very heavy penalties. As is well 
 known, methylated spirit is a disgusting compound, quite unfit for 
 essence-making ; but the fact of its being duty free has been too 
 great a temptation, the difference in price being that methylated 
 spirit is worth about 2^d. per pound and rectified spirit 2s. 6d. per 
 pound, so that it would not take long to make a fortune on the lines 
 indicated. . . . 
 
 The vast increase in the consumption of aerated beverages during 
 the past few years is a fact to be noted with great satisfaction, and 
 this increase is to be attributed in no small degree to the conscien- 
 tious endeavours of the majority of high-class manufacturers to 
 produce their beverages of a quality worthy of the increased con- 
 fidence of the public. We regret to note that all manufacturers are 
 not alike in this respect. With some the sole object appears to be 
 the production of goods at the lowest possible price, and quite 
 irrespective of quality. When, for instance, a bottle of lemonade 
 is asked for, the purchaser expects to receive something better than 
 a solution of sugar and water, feebly aerated, unflavoured, and 
 acidified with one of the concoctions of mineral acid which are put 
 upon the market under various misleading titles. 
 
 From some ' notes ' in the same booklet on the 
 materials used by mineral water and cordial manufac- 
 turers, further enlightenment can be gained. Acetic 
 acid, one finds, is used by some manufacturers as a 
 cheap substitute for citric or tartaric acid, though its
 
 TRADE SECRETS 217 
 
 only recommendation is its comparatively low price. 
 Manufacturers have been warned against the use of 
 hydrochloric acid for the production of carbonic acid, 
 ' owing to the gas containing chlorinated compounds 
 which few metals will resist, and to the taste and odour 
 imparted thereby to aerated beverages, which no wash- 
 ing will remove.' The writers continue : 
 
 It certainly did not occur to us at the time that an attempt would 
 be made to introduce this strongly corrosive mineral acid as a 
 substitute for pure fruit acids in aerated beverages. We regret that 
 this attempt has been made. And the hydrochloric acid mixture 
 is stated to be harmless because it is derived from common salt 
 (chloride of sodium). On this reasoning vitriol might just as well 
 be used at once, as it is present in Epsom salts (sulphate of 
 magnesia). For such beverages as lemonade, etc., which are sold 
 to the public as fruit drinks, pure fruit acids should alone be used. 
 
 Salicylic acid is recommended as the most efficient pre- 
 servative of all sweet aerated beverages which are to be 
 kept for any length of time or exported to hot climates. 
 It is suggested that care should be taken to ascertain 
 that the sulphuric acid used for the generation of car- 
 bonic acid gas is of good quality, and guaranteed made 
 from sulphur. ' Much of the cheapest vitriol is now 
 made from pyrites and refuse from copper works, and 
 is frequently contaminated with arsenic and other 
 impurities.' The ' head ' on non-alcoholic herbal or 
 botanic beers, giving them ' a freshness and piquancy 
 which are not generally found in beers containing little 
 or no alcohol,' can, it seems, be produced by a certain 
 foam syrup, i pound of which, added to 40 gallons of 
 plain syrup, ' will give to aerated beverages of every 
 description a rich, sparkling, close, and lasting head, 
 free from large bubbles,' while i pound of foam powder 
 ' is sufficient to produce a rich, close, and sparkling 
 head on 600 gallons of liquor.' Caramel (burnt sugar) 
 occupies a leading position among the colourings,
 
 218 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 especially for ginger ale. Absolutely pure carbonic 
 acid gas must be used to produce high-class beverages, 
 but ' it is, unfortunately, a fact that many mineral water 
 makers give very little attention to the purity of the 
 vitriol, whiting, or other materials used.' Brewed 
 ginger beer, it is further stated, can be produced, by 
 means of a certain powder, at a cost not exceeding 
 threepence a gallon. 
 
 Concerning essential oils the booklet says : 
 
 Essential oils, sometimes known as essences, are derived from 
 plants by various processes. The essential oils of most interest to 
 the mineral water manufacturer are extracted by expression or by 
 distillation. Our selected qualities of lemon, orange, and bergamot 
 are manufactured solely for our firm, under our own direction, and 
 are extracted by hand &\r&c\. from the respective peels of selected fruits. 
 In this respect they differ from the oils generally offered to the 
 trade, which are made from refuse fruits, unfit for eating, and more 
 or less mixed with distilled<y\ of lemon, or adulterated with various 
 admixtures. 
 
 Of oil of lemon it is said : 
 
 There is no article imported into this country which is so gener- 
 ally and largely adulterated as oil of lemon. This adulteration is 
 carried on to an enormous extent by so-called manufacturers in 
 Sicily, who purchase a certain quantity of oil of lemon, oranges, 
 etc., from the small growers, and mix it with various adulterants. 
 Those mixed oils are generally shipped to England through agents, 
 at a price which sufficiently indicates the quality of the produce and 
 the character of the shippers. . . . We strongly recommend all 
 users of oil of lemon to be most careful when purchasing. It is an 
 easy matter for unscrupulous dealers to produce a so-called oil of 
 lemon at a very low price, but after a few weeks this mixture smells 
 strongly of turpentine or paraffin, and is completely useless. 
 
 On this same subject the writers state, later on, 
 under the heading ' Tests for Adulterations and 
 Impurities ' : 
 
 As an example, we may refer to the well-known scandalous 
 adulteration of oil of lemon with turpentine. If a perfectly pure 
 oil of lemon can be purchased for, say, 8s. per pound, and an oil of 
 lemon containing 50 per cent, of turpentine is offered at 43., it is 
 obvious that the purchaser of the latter obtains only half a pound
 
 ADULTERANTS 219 
 
 of oil of lemon for 43., and half a pound of turpentine, which is 
 worse than useless, and the flavour of the drink made therefrom is 
 not palatable, even when freshly bottled, and in a few days a dis- 
 gusting flavour of turpentine predominates, injurious alike to the 
 reputation of the manufacturer and the confidence of the consumer. 
 We cannot too strongly urge the importance of purchasing the 
 best and purest materials from houses of repute. The adulteration 
 referred to above is no exaggeration, but a fact. 
 
 In the actual manufacture of aerated waters the 
 usual procedure (judging from the recipes given in the 
 trade publications) is to take a gallon of plain syrup 
 (made from sugar and water), and add (i) from i to 
 2 ounces either of citric or of tartaric acid, (2) the par- 
 ticular sort of essence or essences needed to produce 
 the special kind of drink required, (3) so much colour- 
 ing matter, and (4) a varying quantity either of ' foam 
 syrup ' or of ' French cream ' to give the beverage a 
 good ' head.' The differences between the various 
 drinks seem to depend mainly on the flavours em- 
 ployed. Indeed, one of the publications in question 
 says, frankly enough : ' It must be admitted that the 
 flavours are the life of the aerated drink.' (The words 
 italicized are so given in the original.) 
 
 Strictly speaking, these essences, or flavours, should 
 be obtained mainly from fruits, herbs, spices, and such- 
 like sources. Fresh fruit essences, according to Mr. 
 Peter MacEwan, author of ' Pharmaceutical Formulas : 
 a Book of Useful Recipes for the Drug Trade,' are 
 made by covering the fruit with rectified spirit (i pint 
 to 4 to 6 pounds of fruit), and macerating for ten days. 
 Five per cent, of artificial essence is then added, the 
 liquor is filtered, and colouring matter follows. 
 
 It is mainly owing to these essences that there has 
 been so great an increase in the variety of beverages 
 now offered to the consumers of temperance drinks. 
 Half a century ago the fifty manufacturers already 
 spoken of produced little more than lemonade, ginger
 
 220 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 beer, and soda water. The position to-day is indicated 
 by a little book, ' Temperance Drinks for Summer and 
 Winter,' compiled by Mr. Frederick Davies, whose 
 recipes for syrups, cordials, and drinks number no 
 fewer than 589. He throws, however, further light on 
 the reason for the rapid growth of the business when 
 he says that beverages made with a machine or drawn 
 from the fountain, such as aerated lemonade, ginger 
 ale, etc., 'may be produced at a cost not exceeding 
 6d. per dozen drinks. Indeed,' he adds, ' soda and 
 other mineral waters can be produced for half that 
 amount.' 
 
 It is a matter of special interest to know of what 
 these all-important fruit essences are really composed, 
 and it would seem from some recipes given in Mr. 
 MacEwan's book that not only genuine fruit essences 
 are employed, but artificial ones, which are made out 
 of various chemicals, and need not contain any portion 
 whatever of the fruit they are supposed to represent. 
 The following examples of these purely artificial 
 essences may suffice, the figures given representing 
 parts by measure for 100 parts of rectified spirit : 
 
 CHERRY. Acid, benzoic, i ; ether, acetic, 5 ; ether, benzole, 5 ; 
 ether, cenanthic, i ; glycerine, 3. 
 
 CIDER. Alcohol, amylic, 4 ; chloroform, 4 ; ether, amyl-acetic, 
 4 ; ether, amyl-butyric, 4 ; ether, amyl-valerianic, 8. 
 
 CURRANT. Acid, benzoic, I ; acid, cenanthic, i ; acid, succinic, 
 i ; acid, tartaric, 5 ; aldehyde, i ; ether, acetic, 5 ; ether, 
 benzoic, i. 
 
 GRAPE. Acid, succinic, 3 ; acid, tartaric, 5 ; aldehyde, 2 ; 
 chloroform, 2 ; ether, formic, 2 ; ether, methyl-salicylic, I ; ether, 
 cenanthic, 10 ; glycerine, 10. 
 
 ORANGE. Acid, tartaric, i ; aldehyde, 2 ; chloroform, 2 ; ether, 
 acetic, 5 ; ether, amyl-acetic, i ; ether, benzoic, i ; ether, butyric, 
 i ; ether, formic, i ; ether, methyl-salicylic, i ; glycerine, 10 ; oil, 
 orange, 10. 
 
 PEACH. Alcohol, amylic, 2 ; aldehyde, 2 ; ether, acetic, 5 ; 
 ether, butyric, 5 ; ether, formic, 5 ; ether, sebacylic, i ; ether, 
 valerianic, 5 ; glycerine, 5 ; oil, peach kernel, 5.
 
 COMPOSITION OF ESSENCES 221 
 
 PINEAPPLE. Ether, amyl-acetic, i ; ether, amyl-butyric, 10 ; 
 ether, butyric, 5 ; glycerine, 3; oil, lemon, o'i ; oil, orange, o f 2. 
 
 PLUM. Aldehyde, 5 ; ether, acetic, 5 ; ether, butyric, 2 ; ether, 
 formic, i ; glycerine, 8 ; oil, peach kernel, 4. 
 
 Then an American writer, Mr. G. H. Dubelle, of 
 New York, has published a book entitled : ' The " Ne 
 Plus Ultra" Soda Fountain Requisites of Modern 
 Times,' in which he gives a large number of formulas, 
 including fruit syrups, 24; new improved artificial 
 fruit syrups, 28 ; fancy soda-fountain syrups, 22 ; arti- 
 ficial fruit essences, 28 ; concentrated fruit phosphates, 
 29 ; new malt phosphates, 36 ; foreign and domestic 
 wine phosphates, 9 ; cream fruit lactarts, 28 ; soluble 
 flavouring extracts or essences, 12; new modern 
 punches, 18 ; nonsuch fruit punches, 32 ; and new 
 superior fruit champagnes, 17. 
 
 These various drinks are in great favour among the 
 teetotallers of the United States, most of whom, prob- 
 ably, while taking their ' malt ' or ' wine ' phosphates, 
 their fruit ' punches,' or their fruit ' champagnes,' 
 would scout the idea of drinking a glass of beer made 
 of malt and hops. What they may get is suggested by 
 the following examples of the formulse given by Mr. 
 Dubelle for the said ' soda water fountain requisites,' 
 the figures representing in each instance fluid ounces : 
 
 APPLE ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 40 ; pure apple jack 
 (brandy), 40; valerianate of amyl, 10; glycerine, 5 ; aldehyde, 2; 
 chloroform, acetic ether, and nitric ether, i each. 
 
 APRICOT ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 50 ; pure apricot 
 juice, 25 ; butyric ether, 10 ; valerianic ether, 5 ; glycerine, 5 ; 
 amyl alcohol, 2 ; butyrate of amyl, chloroform, and bitter almond 
 oil, i each. 
 
 BANANA ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 80 ; butyrate of amyl, 
 10 ; butyric ether, 5 ; glycerine, 3 ; chloroform and aldehyde, 
 i each. 
 
 BLACKBERRY ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 70 : pure black- 
 berry juice, 20 ; glycerine, 7 ; tincture of orris root, apple oil, and 
 quince oil, i each.
 
 222 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 GOOSEBERRY ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 70 ; pure goose- 
 berry juice, 20 ; acetic ether, 5 ; benzoic ether, benzoic acid, 
 cenanthic ether, grape-seed oil, and aldehyde, i each. 
 
 LEMON ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 60; pineapple essence, 
 acetic ether, and oil of lemon, 5 each ; glycerine, 5 ; aldehyde, 2 ; 
 chloroform, nitrous ether, and acetic acid, i each. 
 
 LIME FRUIT ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 60; pineapple 
 essence, acetic ether, and oil of lemon, 10 each ; glycerine, 4 ; 
 aldehyde and acetic acid, 2 each ; chloroform and nitrous ether, 
 i each. 
 
 RASPBERRY ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 50 ; pure raspberry 
 juice, 20; tincture of orris root, 10 ; acetic ether, 5 ; glycerine, 3 ; 
 nitrous ether, aldehyde, formic ether, butyric ether, benzoic ether, 
 grape-seed oil, oil of wintergreen, acetate of amyl, butyrate of amyl, 
 oenanthic ether, chloroform, and spirit of rose, I each. 
 
 STRAWBERRY ESSENCE. Deodorized alcohol, 40 ; pure straw- 
 berry juice, 20 ; raspberry essence, 10 ; pineapple essence, acetic 
 ether, tincture of orris root, and butyric ether, 5 each ; acetate of 
 amyl, 3 ; butyrate of amyl, 2 ; nitrous ether, formic ether, oil of 
 wintergreen, acetic acid, and glycerine, I each. 
 
 On the facts here presented various considerations 
 arise. 
 
 It would seem, in the first place, that manufacturers 
 of temperance drinks are to be divided into two classes 
 (i) those who carry on a genuine business under the 
 best conditions, and (2) a swarm of reckless traders, 
 who use the cheapest materials and follow the worst 
 of methods, regardless of all other conditions so long 
 as they can make money out of the teetotallers whose 
 prejudices they exploit. No one who reads between 
 the lines of the extracts given above can fail to admit 
 that this conclusion is abundantly warranted. 
 
 In the second place, even if one granted that this 
 latter class of manufacturers did not really exist, and 
 that the whole of the aerated and mineral waters 
 put on the market were produced under the best 
 possible conditions, one is still left with the question : 
 Can such drinks compare with honest ale in regard to 
 nutritive qualities ? The ' food value ' of ale has 
 certainly been a subject of much controversy, though
 
 PERTINENT CONSIDERATIONS 223 
 
 the materials used consist of natural products which, 
 in themselves, admittedly contain nutriment, and this 
 ought in due course to be imparted in some degree to 
 the beverages of which such products form a basis. In 
 spite, therefore, of all questionings, one must assume, 
 on the grounds alike of reason, of research, and of 
 experience, that ale and beer do have a certain food 
 value, whatever the exact amount thereof may be. But 
 when we come to the bottled temperance drinks, there 
 can be no possible suggestion of these having any 
 'food value' at all. They may be 'palatable,' just 
 as any sweetened, aerated, and agreeably flavoured 
 water might be, and they may satisfy thirst ; but it 
 cannot be claimed that they have either stimulating 
 qualities (apart from the actual amount of alcohol they 
 may contain) or nutritive qualities. In these two 
 respects, therefore, they cannot really be regarded as 
 adequate substitutes for the working-man's beer. For 
 a person who has just gone through, say, some heavy 
 manual labour, or is otherwise fatigued from exhausting 
 physical effort, they could not possibly answer the same 
 purpose as a mild stimulant. 
 
 It may be claimed that they are still preferable to 
 the working-man's beer because the latter is an alco- 
 holic drink, whereas they are non-alcoholic. But this 
 is a designation to which they are not strictly entitled, 
 because temperance drinks do contain a percentage of 
 alcohol. The makers cannot produce them, as a class, 
 without alcohol, and the Government recognize the 
 fact by allowing them to escape paying duty provided 
 they do not contain more than 2 per cent, of proof 
 spirit by the volume. The alcohol in temperance 
 drinks is due either to the addition of the essences 
 (which are prepared in very strong alcohol), or else 
 to chance fermentation, attributable to the beverage
 
 224 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 having undergone what might well be an injurious 
 decomposition previous to consumption. In some 
 cases temperance drinks sent out well within the legal 
 limit will develop a considerable increase of alcoholic 
 strength while being stored for sale. To prevent these 
 results as far as possible preservatives are employed, 
 and in the well-known cases as to the permissible use of 
 salicylic acid in lime juice and lime juice cordial, the 
 magistrates decided that such acid might be employed 
 within certain limits, although the doctors differed very 
 strongly as to the desirability of allowing its use even in 
 restricted quantity. 
 
 The amount of actual alcohol which, from one cause 
 or another, temperance drinks may contain by the time 
 they reach the consumer is well indicated by the follow- 
 ing extract from the Report of the Principal Chemist 
 upon the Work of the Government Laboratory for the 
 Year ended March 31, 1906 : 
 
 HERB BEERS AND OTHER BEVERAGES SOLD AS TEMPERANCE 
 DRINKS. Nine hundred and twenty-four samples of ginger, herb, 
 and botanic beers were purchased in various parts of the country 
 to ascertain if the proof spirit was within the legal limit of 2 per 
 cent. It was found that 349 contained spirit in excess of the legal 
 limit, and of these 
 
 58 contained 3 per cent., but less than 4 per cent., of proof spirit ; 
 35 contained 4 per cent., but less than 6 per cent., of proof spirit ; 
 8 contained 6 per cent, or more, the highest containing 9-5 per 
 cent, of proof spirit. 
 
 One sees, therefore, that in taking these so-called 
 ' temperance drinks ' teetotallers can imbibe fairly sub- 
 stantial quantities of alcohol without, perhaps, being 
 aware of the fact, and it may even be that the stimu- 
 lating effect of this alcohol is, unconsciously, the real 
 cause of their regarding such drinks with so much satis- 
 faction. 
 
 Alcohol is condemned by the prohibitionists because
 
 TOXIC AGENTS 225 
 
 of its toxic qualities, or, as they would say, ' because it 
 is a poison.' They show that, injected into animals, it 
 produces various direful results, including death. But 
 alcohol is under no circumstances taken ' neat ' by 
 human beings, and the real question is whether the 
 actual amount of alcohol contained in the glass of beer 
 of a moderate drinker or even in two or three glasses 
 would produce any really toxic effect. If so, then 
 the same question would arise in regard to those ' tem- 
 perance ' drinks which, as we have seen, also contain a 
 certain percentage of alcohol. Accepting, for the sake 
 of argument, the theory that the presence in a beverage 
 of even the smallest quantity of an admittedly (in itself) 
 toxic agent is injurious, then the same conditions, even 
 in respect to alcohol alone, apply in principle to tem- 
 perance as to other drinks, the matter being simply one 
 as to the exact proportion of alcohol contained in each 
 of them. But, as regards the former, the question really 
 goes much further. 
 
 There is no doubt whatever that many of the chemical 
 or other substances used in the preparation of temper- 
 ance drinks are, in themselves, toxic, and that, whereas 
 a glass of beer may contain a minute proportion of one 
 toxic agent namely, alcohol a bottle of aerated or 
 mineral waters may contain traces, not only of this 
 same toxic agent, but of others besides. Take the case 
 of ordinary ' stone ' ginger beer, one of the most popular 
 of all temperance drinks. It is considered by the public 
 especially good when it shows a good froth or ' foam ' 
 on the top. But this effect is simply produced by the 
 use of a syrup made from quillia bark,* the active prin- 
 
 * In Mr. Dubelle's book the recipe for a ' foam preparation,' 
 which he thinks will ' give entire satisfaction,' is : ' Ground soap 
 bark (quillia), 16 ozs. ; deodorized alcohol, 8 fl. ozs.; water, a 
 sufficient quantity.' 
 
 15
 
 226 TEMPERANCE DRINKS 
 
 ciple of which is a substance called saponin, and this 
 has proved when taken in sufficient medicinal quan- 
 tities to have a very serious action on the heart. As 
 for the essences or flavours which constitute * the life of 
 the aerated drink,' and allow of so great a variety of 
 temperance beverages being put on the market, these 
 are made largely from substances derived from coal-tar 
 products. I do not say that, for this reason, they are 
 necessarily injurious to the system, and that temperance 
 drinks should therefore be avoided. I make no such 
 suggestion whatever. But it may fairly be said that 
 precisely the same arguments used by the teetotallers 
 in regard to any possible injurious effect on the human 
 system of even minute quantities of alcohol in beer 
 apply to the possibility of like results from the pres- 
 ence in temperance drinks of alcohol, plus these 
 chemical or other toxic compounds. If the argument 
 holds good in the one case, it must hold equally good 
 in the other ; and it might, therefore, be suggested to 
 the members of the prohibitionist party that, in the 
 intervals of decrying, not alone the alleged absence of 
 ' food value ' from beer, but also the presence therein 
 of a substance they say is harmful to the human system, 
 they should place their own house in order, and show 
 that the beverages they would substitute for those they 
 condemn are not only adequate for the purpose, but 
 themselves above suspicion.
 
 NOT alone is there a tendency on the part of teetotal 
 advocates to bring all alcoholic beverages, whatever 
 their constituent parts, under the same ban of condem- 
 nation, but inadequate allowance is generally made for 
 the material changes effected during the last quarter of 
 a century in the alcoholic strength of the weakest but 
 most popular of all among these beverages the work- 
 ing-man's beer. 
 
 These material changes have been directly due to the 
 remarkable advance made during the period in ques- 
 tion in the science and art of brewing ; and here, in the 
 first place, honour must be paid to Pasteur, the master 
 mind, who discovered the great meaning of fermenta- 
 tion ; but credit is also due to the late Cornelius O'Sul- 
 livan, Horace Brown, Peter Griess, Heron and Morris, 
 all of Burton-on-Trent, who laid the foundations of that 
 branch of the modern school of chemistry which con- 
 cerns itself with the technology of the carbohydrates 
 a name comprising starch, sugar, and all the various 
 products which can be obtained from them. The re- 
 searches thus made have since been adopted by all the 
 well-known brewers of the world as the basis of further 
 work. It was the labours of these investigators con- 
 cerning the transformation of starch into its various 
 
 227 15 2
 
 228 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 products, as the result of fermentation, that rendered 
 possible alike the production of a better beer than our 
 grandfathers drank, and also a reduction in the alco- 
 holic strength thereof. 
 
 Whilst English chemists were thus occupied with the 
 chemistry of the carbohydrates, events were occurring 
 in Denmark which led to that country acquiring a fore- 
 most position in the scientific investigation of fermenta- 
 tion in its bearing on industrial problems. Mr. Jacob- 
 sen, of the celebrated Carlsberg breweries, had visited 
 Pasteur's laboratory in Paris, and had been so much 
 impressed by what he there saw that, on his return to 
 Copenhagen, he set up a thoroughly equipped Institute 
 to carry on the work of research connected with fer- 
 mentation, with a view to applying, subsequently, to 
 industrial brewing the results so obtained. He ap- 
 pointed as leading scientific adviser to the Institute 
 Emile Christopher Hansen, and he further had the co- 
 operation of chemists of the type of Kjeldahl, whose 
 valuable researches are known all through the chemical 
 world. The results of the work thus done have been, 
 not only greatly to advance scientific knowledge, but 
 also materially to improve the quality of the lager, or 
 low fermentation, beer, as produced on the Continent of 
 Europe. 
 
 It is the combination of the successes thus attained 
 in England and Denmark respectively, supplemented 
 by the work done also by scientists in Bavaria, that has 
 brought about such material changes in the constitution 
 of beers in general. 
 
 In Great Britain the ordinary beer of five-and-twenty 
 years ago was certainly open to adverse criticism from 
 a temperance standpoint, and it was so for two reasons : 
 (i) The large proportion of hops employed ; and (2) the 
 high alcoholic strength of the beverage.
 
 THE USE OF HOPS 229 
 
 With regard to the former of these reasons, it should 
 be borne in mind that the presence of an excess of hops 
 in beer has a narcotizing effect, so that the man who 
 gets drunk on beer displays symptoms very different 
 from those of the man who gets drunk on spirits. The 
 latter may readily become violent, and either be de- 
 structive smashing windows, for example or else 
 quarrel with, or even attack, those around him. But 
 the man whose drunkenness is due to beer becomes 
 stupid rather than violent, and reels about, having, in 
 effect, been ' narcotized ' by the influence upon his 
 system of the hops used in the beverage he has taken 
 in excess. These conditions more especially prevailed 
 a generation ago, the old English beer being not only 
 strong in alcohol, but so heavily hopped that the 
 drunkenness it caused had many of the characteristic 
 symptoms of actual narcotic poisoning. 
 
 But during the last twenty-five years the ' hop rate ' 
 that is to say, the amount of hops employed in the 
 production of beer has decreased very largely, with 
 this all-important result : that the quantity thereof used 
 for the production of the working-man's beer of to-day 
 may certainly be denned as ' non-narcotizing.' 
 
 Comparing the ordinary beers now being consumed in 
 England with those of the period in question, one finds 
 that in actual alcoholic strength there has been a reduc- 
 tion of between 15 and 20 per cent., or, in other words, 
 a decline of from 7 per cent, to between 4 and 5 per 
 cent., or even less, in terms of absolute alcohol. This 
 fact is proved in a curious way. 
 
 In the year 1880 Mr. Gladstone brought about what 
 the Beer Materials Committee have well described as 
 ' an epoch in the history of brewing,' by inducing Par- 
 liament to repeal the old malt tax, and to substitute for 
 it the so-called ' Free Mash-tun ' system, under which 

 
 230 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 the beer duty was for the future to be levied upon the 
 wort in terms of ' original gravity ' that is to say, the 
 average strength of the wort prior to fermentation, the 
 brewer being left free in regard to the choice both of 
 his materials and of his methods. The average ' original 
 gravity ' on which the duty was thus based was 1057. 
 That figure did, at the time in question, fairly represent 
 the average strength of mild ale throughout the country ; 
 but there was then still a very large consumption of 
 strong beer and of old vatted ale which had an original 
 gravity of (say) 1065 and upwards. To-day, following 
 on the introduction and great popularity of milder, 
 lighter, and brighter beers, the production of the old 
 vatted ale has almost wholly disappeared, and the sale 
 of strong beer has been reduced to a vanishing-point, 
 the quantity sold representing only a fractional per- 
 centage of the total consumption. As one result of 
 these changes the Government have found it necessary 
 to reduce the standard of strength for duty-levying 
 purposes from 1057 to 1055 ; but it may fairly be said 
 that the bulk of the mild ale now produced in this 
 country, and sold in bottles for household consumption, 
 is much nearer 1048 than 1055. 
 
 When one studies the component parts of what is 
 termed ' the nutriment of beer,' one finds that the 
 object of malting is to change the starch of the barley 
 into a form which shall be capable, in the mash-tun, of 
 conversion into readily assimilable and easily digestible 
 carbohydrates, considerable proportions of which are 
 presented to the drinker in the form of finished ale. In 
 addition to these, there are nitrogenous matters in the 
 barley which undergo modification during the process 
 of malting, and still further modification during the 
 process of brewing, each of such modifications being in 
 turn in the direction of producing readily assimilable
 
 NUTRITIVE QUALITIES 231 
 
 and easily digestible nitrogenous substances. In effect, 
 the two chief forms of nutriment in beer namely, the 
 carbohydrates (sugars) and the already digested nitro- 
 genous substances (peptones) represent two of the 
 most essential constituents of the food requisite for 
 human beings, and it is, perhaps, when taken in 
 a beverage that the nutritive principles in question 
 are most readily absorbed by the system. Of late years 
 the proportion of the carbohydrates used has largely 
 increased, experience showing that when the brewer 
 puts more sugar into his single X, the trade therein 
 goes up at once. It is not the alcohol that people 
 want : it is the sugar, and the larger the amount of the 
 (nutritive) sugar used, the greater the sale. 
 
 The reader may be reminded that malt extract is 
 freely prescribed by medical men for children and 
 invalids, and malt extract has, in fact, the same nutri- 
 tive constituents (less only the alcohol) that are to be 
 found in beer. Teetotal extremists, however, not only 
 seek strenuously to prove that beer has no ' food ' or 
 nutritive qualities at all, but they also contend that 
 because it contains a certain low percentage of alcohol, 
 therefore it is a dangerous beverage, and therefore still 
 more stringent laws should be passed in regard to its 
 sale. 
 
 Here it may be further remarked that, although 
 numerous experiments have been made as to the effect 
 of alcohol itself on human beings and animals, there is 
 no recorded instance (so far as can be ascertained) of 
 an experiment as to the toxic action on the human 
 system of a solution of (say) 4 per cent, of alcohol in 
 conjunction with nutritive matters, such as we find 
 represented in beer that is to say, there have been no 
 scientific experiments with actual beer, as distinct 
 from absolute alcohol. This is certainly a weak point
 
 232 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 in the said researches. It is all the more so because 
 such experiments would be far more practical, and 
 bring us into closer touch with the actualities of every- 
 day life, than many of those more elaborate but less 
 convincing investigations of which so much is heard. 
 To state a distinct and concrete proposition, to which 
 any new investigator on these lines might well apply 
 himself: what would be the precise difference between 
 taking at dinner a pint of mild or bitter ale, which would 
 excite and assist the digestive functions, and taking 
 a bottle of lemonade, the free acid in which might be 
 large enough in quantity and of such a character as 
 actually to retard digestion ? In regard to the precise 
 amount of alcohol present in a pint of mild ale, con- 
 taining a proportion of not more than 4 or 5 per cent, 
 of such alcohol, that would represent for any ordinary 
 adult an absolutely negligible quantity. 
 
 It is, therefore, certain (i) that there has been a very 
 considerable decline of late years in the alcoholic 
 strength even of English beers ; and (2) that those of 
 the prohibitionists who ignore all the changes effected 
 in the science and art of brewing, and talk about the 
 beers of to-day as though they were still identical with 
 those of a quarter of a century or more ago, are placing 
 themselves in a position at once false and illogical. 
 
 It may, however, be asked and it is often asked why 
 English brewers do not resort more largely than they 
 do to producing for consumption here such still lighter 
 lager beers as those that are so popular on the Continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 The main differences between the Continental lager 
 beer and English beer are twofold. 
 
 In the first place, the lager beer is mashed on what is 
 known as the decoction system that is, a portion of 
 the mash is submitted to boiling, and is afterwards
 
 LAGER VERSUS ENGLISH BEER 233 
 
 returned to the mash-tun to be mixed with the remainder 
 of the mash. The effect of this is to render some of 
 the carbohydrates unfermentable, and, at the same time, 
 convert some of the nitrogenous substances into pep- 
 tones and other highly digestive nitrogenous products. 
 
 In the second place, lager beer is fermented by what 
 is called ' bottom yeast,' as opposed to the ' top yeast ' 
 system employed here. The fermentation has to be 
 conducted in cellars, the temperature of which is main- 
 tained, by artificial means, at or near freezing-point. 
 The beer, when made, has to be stored, or ' lagered ' 
 (whence the name), for at least a month prior to sending 
 out. When it is sent out it must be distributed in 
 (about) 4-gallon casks, and carried to its destination in 
 non-conducting covered carts ; and, when received by 
 the retail dealers, it must again be kept in their cellars 
 at or near freezing-point, any degree of warmth depriv- 
 ing the beverage of its palatable qualities. To such an 
 extent is the last-mentioned requirement carried, in 
 regard to lager beer in Germany, that there are retailers 
 who only receive from the brewery each morning the 
 quantity of beer they are likely to sell during the day. 
 
 It is true that certain brewery firms in our own 
 country have made special efforts to supply lager beer 
 for the home market ; but if English brewers generally 
 were to attempt to substitute lager for their ordinary 
 beers, it would mean practically the scrapping of most 
 of, if not all, their existing plant and appliances, and 
 the entire reorganization of their present arrangements, 
 inasmuch as (i) the mild ale of to-day, as sold in 
 public-houses, is generally sent out for consumption 
 within about ten days of being brewed, no lagering or 
 prolonged storage being required ; (2) artificial cold is 
 unnecessary ; and (3) mild ale is distributed in casks 
 containing 36 or 54 gallons.
 
 234 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 The object of ' lagering ' is to bring the lager beer 
 slowly into condition. This process requires the month 
 or so already mentioned, because of the low tempera- 
 ture at which the beer has been fermented; whereas 
 with the high temperature employed by our own 
 brewers the ' conditioning ' is rapid, and the beer is 
 ready for use practically as soon as it has been brewed. 
 Tastes may differ; but in England, at least, it would 
 be generally conceded that the quality of ale brewed 
 according to the English system of to-day is far superior 
 to that of the ordinary lager beer, while, unless the 
 latter be drunk when quite cold, there is no com- 
 parison between the two. Assuming, however, that 
 this superiority did not exist, and that it might be 
 thought desirable to effect a general substitution of 
 lager beer for English ale, the breweries, to do this, 
 would have to be reconstructed; the methods of con- 
 signment would have to be entirely changed ; and every 
 public-house cellar would require to be remodelled, if 
 not actually fitted with refrigerating appliances. 
 
 All the same, it is a fact beyond dispute that the 
 competition of the lighter German beer with the British 
 beverage did exercise considerable influence in the bring- 
 ing about of the changes effected in regard to the latter. 
 The lighter beer appealed to public taste, not because it 
 was ' lager ' beer, but simply because it was lighter and 
 more easily digested than the old English ale. So there 
 was brought about a keen struggle for supremacy, in 
 which the British brewers showed they were well able 
 to hold their own, for they checked the threatened 
 foreign invasion, and maintained the welfare of a British 
 industry in which many thousands of workers are directly 
 concerned. But in doing this they encountered a Parlia- 
 mentary opposition of the most active and pertinacious 
 type, concerning which a few words should here be said.
 
 THE ADVENT OF LIGHTER BEERS 235 
 
 In dealing with the problem as to the conditions 
 under which lighter beers could best be produced in 
 this country, the British brewers found themselves 
 faced with an initial difficulty. They naturally wished 
 still to use home-grown barley as far as possible ; but, 
 owing to the character of our climate, especially as 
 regards the abundance of moisture in our atmosphere, 
 the greater part of British barley develops a larger per- 
 centage of nitrogenous elements difficult to deal with 
 than does sun -grown foreign barley. Owing to 
 these conditions, the British was much less adapted 
 than the foreign barley for the production of those 
 lighter beers which were now coming into vogue ; and, 
 had the brewers depended exclusively on barley itself, 
 they would have had to resort much more to the foreign 
 product and much less to the British. But the researches 
 of scientists had shown that the conversion of starch 
 into sugar in the barley seed, by the soluble ferment 
 that accompanies the sprouting upon the ' floor ' which, 
 as an actual process of Nature, occurs in the operation 
 of malting, as in all seed germination, could also be 
 artificially or chemically produced by means of an acid 
 (this acid doing the work of the ferment, but remaining 
 unchanged, and subsequently being entirely removed), 
 the action of which on the starch taken from the grain 
 converts it into sugars of the same group as the sugars 
 obtained by using malt, and, in effect, made from the 
 same source, the main difference being that the operator 
 is a chemist instead of Dame Nature herself. The pro- 
 duction in this way of such malt sugars, or malt-dextrins 
 as they are called, was due primarily to O'Sullivan, and 
 a similar product of great fermentative utility was also 
 obtained from cane-sugar. 
 
 There are individuals who think that the brewers 
 should use malt and hops only, all the sugar, in that
 
 236 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 case, coming from the malt. Invert sugar, however, 
 obtained in the first instance from the sugar-cane, and 
 representing practically the same sugar as that which 
 is got out of the malt, allows of the production of a 
 lighter and sweeter beer, at once more digestible and 
 more popular; it permits of a larger proportion of 
 British barley being used than would otherwise be 
 possible, and it favours much more exact methods in 
 the process of brewing, thus constituting, in a treble 
 sense, a very great advance indeed in the scientific 
 development of the industry. 
 
 But the policy thus adopted has been strongly opposed 
 on the ground that such sugars are ' substitutes ' for 
 malt, and that the use of them is prejudicial to the 
 public interests. In fact, Bills have been repeatedly 
 introduced into the House of Commons, since 1895, 
 for the purpose of making the use of such brewing 
 sugars unlawful. At first these proposed measures were 
 described as ' Beer Adulteration ' Bills, as though the 
 sugars in question represented some noxious adulterant 
 directly injurious to health; but that pretence was 
 dropped in the further Bill of 1901, which, instead of 
 aiming at the maintenance of so-called 'purity,' sought, 
 rather, to divide beer into two classes 'malt beer' and 
 'part malt beer'; while in the Bill of 1902 the use of 
 malt substitutes up to 15 per cent, was practically 
 recognized as essential to the continued employment 
 of large quantities of British barleys, though the use 
 of hop substitutes was prohibited. These latter are, 
 in fact, scarcely ever used.* Nor, even, did the Bill of 
 
 * The return of ' Brewers' Licenses ' shows that during the year 
 ended September 30, 1906, the materials used by over 5,000 
 brewers in the United Kingdom were as follows : 
 
 Malt ... ... ... ... 52,236,003 bushels. 
 
 Unmalted com ... ... ... 100,535
 
 THE QUESTION OF 'SUBSTITUTES' 237 
 
 1906 lay down any enactment in the special interests of 
 ' purity,' though styled a ' Pure ' Beer Bill. 
 
 There is no necessity here to discuss in detail the 
 varying proposals of these different and unsuccessful 
 measures. They one and all owed their origin to 
 agricultural and malting interests, anxious for ' protec- 
 tion,' rather than to any genuine desire to safeguard 
 the welfare of beer-drinkers; but the most significant 
 fact of all, from the present point of view, is that, 
 although any and every possible evidence showing that 
 the use of brewing sugars was injurious to health, or 
 that there had been a serious decline in the quality of 
 the manufactured product, would have been eagerly 
 seized upon by the supporters of the said legislative 
 measures, the suggestion of a lack of ' purity ' in 
 English beer as brewed to-day had to be entirely 
 abandoned. 
 
 So the British brewers, meeting German competi- 
 tion, and availing themselves of the results of scientific 
 research, produced their lighter qualities of English 
 beer under improved processes without introducing into 
 them substances which were in any way deleterious, 
 though, for the reasons already given, the taking of any 
 further step in the way of a general substitution for 
 ' English ' beer of beer on the lager principle was 
 found altogether impracticable. In effect, English beers 
 now contain, as a rule, so small a percentage of alcohol 
 that they may already count as, practically, temperance 
 beverages. There is only just sufficient alcohol in them 
 
 Rice, rice grits, flaked rice, maize 
 
 grits, flaked maize, and other 
 
 similar preparations ... ... 1,257,499 cwt. 
 
 Sugar, including its equivalent of 
 
 syrups, glucose, and saccharum 2,841,976 
 Hops ... ... ... ... 63,952,915 Ibs. 
 
 Hop substitutes ... ... ... 24,167
 
 238 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 to fulfil the requisite purpose of making them keep, this 
 minimum simply taking the place of the preservatives 
 put into mineral waters. In order to consume, at a 
 single sitting, in the form of light beer, an amount of 
 alcohol equal to that contained in three ordinary drinks 
 of spirits, taken with water or soda water, a man would 
 have to swallow more than his interior arrangements 
 could well accommodate. 
 
 The special function performed by alcohol in beer is, 
 perhaps, not sufficiently understood by the Average 
 Person. In effect, the matter can be stated thus : Just 
 as in the human system Nature manufactures sufficient 
 alcohol to preserve from acidity the food taken into 
 the stomach (and to this cause is due the fact that 
 abstainers seem to demand, or are more partial to, 
 sugar and sweets than are people who drink), so in like 
 manner Nature produces her own alcohol in the pro- 
 duct called beer to act as a preservative. It is there 
 for a purpose, it fulfils that purpose, and, having done 
 so, it is not necessarily exactly identical with alcohol 
 in some other form which has had no such purpose to 
 accomplish. In any case, the fact remains that if the 
 small percentage of alcohol in the average beer pro- 
 duced to-day were still further diminished, the value of 
 the beer from the point of view of nutritive qualities 
 would have to be reduced as well, because without the 
 presence of a given proportion of alcohol or, alter- 
 natively, of such preservatives as are used in ' temperance 
 drinks ' the * food ' elements contained in the beer could 
 not be prevented from undergoing deterioration. 
 
 That is the position to-day. The resources of science, 
 however, are not exhausted, and if there were really any 
 demand that the working-man's beer should be still 
 further reduced in alcoholic strength, it might certainly 
 be possible to do something more in this direction,
 
 TEMPERANCE BEERS 239 
 
 provided that the brewers had sufficient encouragement 
 offered to them so to do. In my book on ' Licensing 
 and Temperance in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark,' 
 I have shown that when, some years ago, certain of the 
 Danish temperance societies went to the Danish brewers, 
 and asked, in effect, ' Could you not brew a type of 
 beer so light in alcoholic strength that it might be 
 consumed by our members without any risk of intoxi- 
 cation, and yet be more palatable than the ordinary 
 so-called, "temperance drinks"?' the brewers were 
 able to respond to the suggestion, owing to their 
 previous patient researches into the problems of in- 
 dustrial fermentation. They produced various beers 
 which exactly answered the stated requirements, and 
 were formally accepted and recognized by many of the 
 societies throughout the land. This represented prac- 
 tical encouragement from leaders of the temperance 
 (as distinguished from the ' teetotal ') movement, and 
 it suggests a very different, and much more common- 
 sense, policy than that of the extremists in the United 
 Kingdom and in the United States. 
 
 But there was another factor of equal importance in 
 the situation thus brought about : the Danish Govern- 
 ment levy no duty on beers which contain not more 
 than 2\ per cent, of absolute alcohol (which is equal to 
 about 6 per cent, of proof spirit by volume). There 
 was thus every inducement given for the brewing and 
 the sale of these exceptionally light beers, the con- 
 sumption of which both in Denmark and in Sweden 
 (where like conditions prevail) is admitted by certain 
 leading temperance workers to be doing far more good 
 for the cause of sobriety than all the efforts yet made 
 there in the way of restriction or prohibition. 
 
 If, therefore, it be thought really desirable and ex- 
 dedient that the British brewers should follow the
 
 240 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 example of the Danish brewers in reducing to an even 
 lower percentage the present small amount of alcohol 
 in their ordinary beers, British temperance advocates 
 and the British Government should alike be prepared 
 to offer them practical encouragement akin to that 
 which the Danish brewers have received. As regards 
 any possible action by the State, it may be pointed out 
 that, under the existing system, the calculation of the 
 duty on beer is based, not on the amount of alcohol, but 
 on the proportion of solid matter which the beer con- 
 tains, or, in technical language, on the ' specific gravity.' 
 If, alternatively, the duty were calculated on the alcohol, 
 and especially if, as in Denmark, the duty on beer were 
 remitted altogether when the amount of alcohol did not 
 exceed a stated figure, encouragement would be given 
 for the prosecution of further researches with a view to 
 the production of some form of beer which contained a 
 still less percentage of alcohol than at present, without 
 necessarily involving any decrease in the amount of 
 nutriment. 
 
 Such results might especially be secured by a com- 
 bination of the Continental, or decoction, system of 
 mashing malt and of the English, or infusion, process. 
 It is believed that by some possible combination on 
 these lines, properly worked out, there could be obtained 
 such a preparation of carbohydrates as would permit of 
 the body necessarily being retained in the beer, with an 
 even less amount than the present small quantity of 
 alcohol. In this way the agricultural industry would 
 not suffer, and the drinker, while getting a lower per- 
 centage of alcohol, would still find in his pint of beer 
 the same proportion of nutriment as before. 
 
 These are among the possibilities of the situation, 
 but inasmuch as any action on the lines here indicated 
 would involve important alterations of plant, etc., it
 
 BEER A TEMPERANCE BEVERAGE 241 
 
 could hardly be expected that such a course would be 
 adopted without the practical encouragement of which 
 I have already spoken, coupled with some assurance of 
 freedom from further harassing legislation, so that the 
 new conditions might have a fair chance of showing 
 what results they were capable of producing. 
 
 Meanwhile, we have the important fact that the 
 British working-man's beer of to-day is already prac- 
 tically a temperance beverage. That it contains a 
 small percentage of alcohol is perfectly true. But so 
 do all the fermented beverages sold under the name 
 of temperance drinks. The teetotallers who rail against 
 alcohol take it all the same. To this they would reply, 
 ' Yes ; but the amount of alcohol contained in the drinks 
 we take would not intoxicate anyone.' In offering that 
 argument they practically abandon the whole position, 
 and reduce the matter from one of principle to one of 
 percentages. It becomes a mere question as to where 
 the line should be drawn between the alleged non- 
 alcoholic and the admittedly alcoholic drinks. In the 
 case of the former the limit has been fixed by the Excise 
 according to their ideas of taxation, rather than because 
 their figure 2 per cent, of proof spirit is the pro- 
 portion beyond which alcohol would be physiologically 
 harmful. In regard to the average beer (as distinct 
 from spirits) it is said, in effect, by the makers, ' The 
 proportion of alcohol is certainly somewhat higher than 
 that contained in the duty-free temperance drinks ; but 
 it is still so small that, taken in moderation, it could 
 not harm any ordinary person, and therefore it also 
 deserves to rank as a " temperance " drink.' 
 
 Looked at from this practical standpoint, the whole 
 controversy between the teetotallers and the brewers, 
 at least (without reckoning the distillers), is brought 
 into much narrower limits than those that are generally 
 
 16
 
 242 BEER PAST AND PRESENT 
 
 assumed ; and there is something altogether inconsistent 
 in the fact that, merely because of a comparatively slight 
 difference in the relative proportions of alcohol, the 
 enormous output of so-called temperance drinks, known 
 as aerated or mineral waters, should be sold duty free 
 and be allowed to contribute nothing to the finances 
 of the country, while another practically temperance 
 drink, known as light beer, should be burdened so 
 heavily. It seems no less unreasonable that so-called 
 ' total abstainers,' who regularly take up to 2 per cent, 
 of proof spirit in their own favourite compounds (even 
 if they do not sometimes, quite unconsciously, much 
 exceed that limit), should still denounce alcohol in 
 every shape or form, and not only condemn, in the 
 most opprobrious terms, the manufacturers, but also 
 seek seriously to interfere with the liberties of the 
 consumers, of a beverage which happens to be some- 
 what higher in alcoholic strength than their own, 
 though made, with all due deference to them, of 
 materials that are evidently far less dubious and much 
 more nutritive and sustaining.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY: 
 
 REDUCTION, COMPENSATION, AND TIME 
 
 LIMIT 
 
 THE endeavours which are being made to secure a 
 reduction in the number of licensed houses in the 
 United Kingdom represent an especially important 
 development in the present-day aspects of the general 
 controversy. They proceed from two distinct classes 
 of ' reformers ': (i) Those who do not want to abolish 
 the trade altogether, but think there are more public- 
 houses in existence than are really required, and seek 
 to have the number still further reduced (notwithstand- 
 ing the ample evidence forthcoming that the effect of 
 such a policy is to increase the number of clubs) ; and 
 (2) those who are bent on total suppression of the 
 traffic, but, as in the case of local option and other 
 proposals advanced from time to time, regard reduction 
 as a desirable stepping-stone towards the attainment of 
 that ultimate goal. Then, following on reduction, there 
 is the question of compensation, and this, in turn, has 
 been succeeded by the scheme known as ' time limit.' 
 It is to these particular phases of the licensing problem 
 that public attention is more especially being directed 
 at the present moment, and they call for some degree 
 of consideration. 
 
 243 1 6 2
 
 244 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 Taking, first, the point as to a decrease in the existing 
 number of public-houses being in itself legitimately 
 called for (apart from the ultimate aspirations of the 
 prohibitionists), the combined party favouring reduction 
 is able to present a case which has certainly appealed 
 strongly to public opinion. It is desirable, therefore, 
 to bear in mind the conditions under which the excess 
 spoken of has been brought about. 
 
 In the chapter on ' Liquor Legislation in the Past ' 
 I have explained how, under the operation of the Beer 
 Act of 1830, an altogether excessive number of beer- 
 houses came into existence (see p. 87) ; and I have 
 further shown that, under the Wine and Beer-house 
 Act of 1869, the licensing magistrates could not refuse 
 a certificate to the Excise in respect to any beer-houses 
 existing on May i, 1869, except on one or other of four 
 specified grounds (see p. 89). These ante- 1869 beer- 
 houses, as they are called, represent about one-third of 
 the existing ' on ' licences ; but prior to the Act of 1904 
 they constituted a privileged class, with vested interests 
 of their own, and had to be omitted from any scheme 
 that might be advanced for a reduction in the total 
 number of licensed houses in the country. A distinctly 
 anomalous position was thus brought about, and magis- 
 trates complained that such reduction as might be 
 effected must be one-sided so long as they were power- 
 less to deal with the ante-i869 beer-houses. 
 
 When, in 1891, the House of Lords gave their decision 
 in the famous case of Sharp v. Wakefteld, the hopes of 
 the party in favour of reduction rose high for a time. 
 By this appeal it was held that licensing justices have 
 the power at their absolute discretion to refuse the 
 renewal of a licence merely on the ground that the 
 house is not needed, and apart altogether from any 
 question of the misconduct of the licence-holder. But
 
 REDUCTION 245 
 
 this decision did not, in effect, do much more than 
 formally establish certain points which had already 
 been repeatedly declared in regard to the discretion of 
 magistrates to refuse renewals in individual cases on 
 the ground of non-necessity and remoteness from police 
 supervision. The Lord Chancellor, in his judgment, 
 expressly stated : 
 
 An extensive power is confided to the justices in their capacity 
 as justices to be expressed judicially, and discretion means, when 
 it is said that something is to be done within the discretion of the 
 authorities, that that something is to be done according to the rules 
 of reason and justice, not to private opinion ; according to law, and 
 not humour. It is to be not arbitrary, vague, and fanciful, but legal 
 and regular ; and it must be exercised within the limit to which an 
 honest man competent to the discharge of his office ought to confine 
 himself. . . . The Legislature has given credit to the magistrates 
 for exercising a judicial discretion that they will fairly decide the 
 questions submitted to them, and not by evasion attempt to repeal 
 the law which permits public-houses to exist, or evade it by avoiding 
 a plain exposition of the reasons on which they act. 
 
 Lord Bramwell supported this view, saying : 
 
 The Legislature has most clearly shown that it supposed 
 contemplated that licences would usually be renewed ; that the 
 taking away of a man's livelihood would not be practised cruelly or 
 wantonly. True ; and because it showed that plainly, it may have 
 felt it safe to leave an absolute discretion with the justices, a 
 discretion that would be discreetly exercised. 
 
 These utterances would seem to suggest that there 
 was nc Idea on the part of the House of Lords that, 
 following on the decision thus given, the magistrates of 
 the country, influenced by their private opinion, would 
 be able to effect sweeping reductions in the number 
 of licensed houses. For some years, indeed, no such 
 attempts were made, notwithstanding a sense of un- 
 easiness (in which Lord Bramwell himself shared) 
 as to the unfair way in which the decision might 
 operate. 
 
 Then came the Licensing Act of 1902. The general
 
 246 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 subject had been brought prominently before the public 
 by Sir William Harcourt through his two Veto Bills. 
 As Mr. Caine expressed it (October 23, 1894) : ' The 
 Government have taken it out of our hands. It is no 
 longer Sir Wilfrid Lawson's job.' Veto as a remedy 
 was rejected by the country at a general election, and 
 the new Government as new Governments do seek- 
 ing time to look round, appointed a Royal Commission, 
 which sat for the greater part of the three years 1896 
 to 1899, an d eventually presented, not only a report, 
 but also a minority report, the two indicating important 
 differences in the views of the Commissioners. In this 
 way there was brought about a considerable revival of 
 public interest in the Licensing Law in general, and 
 the eventual outcome was the Act of 1902, followed by 
 increased and still more vigorous demands from the 
 ' temperance ' party for public-house reduction. 
 
 These demands bore fruit in the licensing sessions 
 of 1903, when 639 licences were refused throughout 
 England and Wales, as compared with an average of 
 189 for five previous years for which returns are avail- 
 able. It is true that the net loss was reduced to 480 
 by successful appeals, but the fact of these appeals 
 being successful suggested that in many instances, at 
 least, the magistrates had not exercised their discretion 
 judicially. The appellants, again, though successful, 
 had still been put to considerable expenditure in the 
 way of costs. Then, the threats made by magistrates 
 in different parts of the country that, unless certain 
 conditions they imposed in a large number of cases 
 were complied with, they would refuse renewals led to 
 the surrender of about 350 more licences; while, in- 
 spired by the examples thus set, some 400 benches of 
 justices intimated that they should take up the question 
 of the reduction of licences in 1904.
 
 MAGISTRATES AS LEGISLATORS 247 
 
 In giving a decision on a licensing case that came 
 before him, Lord Selborne once said : 
 
 Where you are exercising a discretion which the magistracy has 
 had conferred upon it, you must in each case exercise the discretion, 
 and not for any purpose, however praiseworthy, attempt to act the 
 part of legislator, instead of doing that which the Legislature 
 requires you to do act as judges to determine each particular 
 
 It is certain, however, that the magistrates did not 
 keep within these limits in regard to their action in 
 1903, but really assumed, for the time being, the role 
 of legislators in seeking to act on lines of general policy 
 in accordance with what, in their private judgment, 
 was for the well-being of the country. What the more 
 active of these benches of magistrates seemed to be 
 aiming at was not so much the enforcement of laws 
 already in existence as the carrying out of a policy of 
 prohibition which the Legislature had not yet sanc- 
 tioned. In the result they inflicted most serious 
 financial loss on a comparatively large number of 
 owners, who themselves had done no wrong, but were 
 merely regarded as unnecessary ; while no opportunity 
 was afforded them of claiming compensation, although 
 the sacrifices forced upon them were avowedly ' in the 
 public interest." ' Compensation ' had long been in the 
 air, but although many of the magistrates expressed 
 their regret that compensation was not available (those 
 in nearly 300 licensing divisions even addressed to the 
 Home Secretary a memorial in favour of compensa- 
 tion*), the policy of widespread suppression was carried 
 out all the same. 
 
 * This memorial said, among other things : ' The justices have 
 no power to award compensation, and their action is hindered by 
 the invidious duty of selection when it comes to deciding which of 
 a number of licensees, who have committed no fault, shall be 
 deprived of their business, in which savings may have been invested.
 
 248 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 An influential deputation from the trade waited on 
 Mr. Balfour, who was then Prime Minister, to set 
 forth the nature of the grievance under which they 
 suffered, and Mr. Balfour said the Government recog- 
 nized to the full that all those interested in the liquor 
 trade of the country were being subjected to a very serious 
 and, as he thought, unjust strain. He continued : 
 
 I confess I regret the course which the magistrates have pursued, 
 but there are other reasons, and the main reason is the one which 
 every speaker this afternoon has urged upon me namely, the 
 insecurity which has been wrought in every branch of the trade, 
 and, as a consequence accompanying that insecurity, the gross 
 injustice which has been done to a large number of individuals. 
 I gather that that which was a legitimate investment is regarded 
 as an investment no longer, or scarcely worth regarding as an 
 investment. I understand that property which was insurable 
 is insurable no longer, and that one immediate result of what has 
 occurred is that, not only does every licence-holder feel that 
 he holds his licence without any fixed or adequate security, but 
 that he cannot even go, like other persons engaged in a hazardous 
 business, to an insurance office, and, by calculating the risks, make 
 provision against loss which may, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
 an eye, reduce a man from a competence to penury. Another 
 result, I gather, is that property which is taxable, and has been 
 taxed, is now treated as if it were not property at all, and, the 
 State having extracted its full quota from a goodwill in which 
 citizens have honestly invested, it now seems that that which 
 everybody taxes as being property has lost all permanent or fixed 
 value. I think either the Inland Revenue endeavoured to extract 
 for public purposes from licence-holders money which they had no 
 right to extract, or else those licence-holders should possess that 
 general security which the law desires to give to all who hold 
 honestly acquired property. It is undeniable, I think, quite apart 
 from all questions of temperance, that the state of things which, if 
 it has not arisen, seems in process of arising I won't put it more 
 strongly than that is one which is of the most serious character, 
 and which does not lose any part of its seriousness when I reflect 
 that the magistrates who are effecting these sudden resolutions are 
 
 and which provides thiir means of livelihood. In addition, the 
 statutory position of the privileged beer-houses prevents the justices 
 from refusing the renewals of these licences merely on the ground 
 of redundancy. The licensing authority is therefore precluded 
 from dealing with houses which in some cases are the least 
 desirable.
 
 MR. BALFOUR'S VIEWS 249 
 
 themselves the very magistrates, or the successors in office of the 
 very magistrates, who brought about the state of things which 
 is now being rapidly, if not arbitrarily, altered. I cannot believe 
 that any man, whatever his opinions may be, could convince himself 
 that absence of any continuity of policy in a body with a continuity 
 of evidence like our benches of magistrates can be other than 
 a public misfortune. ... I think that this change of policy has an 
 even further-reaching effect on the interests of temperance itself. 
 For observe that it is out of the power of these magistrates, what- 
 ever their views may be, to touch one class of licence-holders whom 
 the temperance reformer, left to himself, would be disposed to deal 
 with in the least merciful fashion I mean, of course, the beer- 
 houses which came into existence before 1869. Those gentlemen 
 who are desirous, apparently, of revolutionizing the whole distribu- 
 tion of licences throughout the country are prevented by law from 
 touching the very licence which probably, most of all, would 
 require to come within the purview of any fair and comprehensive 
 measure dealing with this subject. It cannot be good for temper- 
 ance. But there is a much more far-reaching effect which, I think, 
 is likely to be produced by what is occurring. I put aside the view 
 of those who think it either desirable, or, if desirable, practicable, 
 to prevent the people of this country indulging moderately in 
 alcoholic liquors. I regard that as an absolutely impossible state 
 of things. I do not know that I should desire it if it could be 
 carried out, and I am perfectly sure it could not be carried 
 out. There is no Northern community in the world which has 
 ever consented to abstain wholly from a moderate indulgence 
 in alcoholic liquor, and I doubt if it is possible for us to hope that 
 anything beyond a moderate rate of consumption can ever be 
 established in this country; but, putting those aside who regard 
 that as a very meagre settlement of the idea at which we ought to 
 aim, and confining myself to more moderate temperance reformers, 
 among whom I should desire to class myself, surely it must stand 
 to reason that if you make property in licences absolutely insecure 
 no man of position or substance will engage in the trade. And, 
 surely, if that be true, the next consequence is quite irrefutable 
 namely, that a trade which must exist will fall into the hands 
 of men who have nothing to lose by misconduct, who run the 
 thing in a manner which may possibly suit their own interests, but 
 which must be inimical to the public interest ; and, by driving out 
 all men of position and responsibility from the holding of licences, 
 you will inflict not merely a great hardship upon the classes who 
 desire to make use of respectable and well-conducted houses, but 
 you will inflict the greatest injury upon the cause of temperance 
 itself. I therefore look with the utmost alarm to anything which 
 would absolutely drive out all the good men, and leave the work 
 which has to be done, and will be done by somebody, legislate 
 how you will, to men who have neither character, nor money, 
 nor osition to lose. . .
 
 250 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 I hope you will content yourself with the statement that what has 
 occurred appears to us to be in many cases, however well intended, 
 but little short in its practical effect of unjust confiscation of 
 property, and that to that unjust confiscation of property it is 
 impossible that either Parliament or His Majesty's Government 
 can remain indifferent. 
 
 Following these events came the Act of 1904. It set 
 up machinery under which ' on ' licences including 
 those of the ante-i86g beer-houses could be suppressed 
 when considered redundant, but established the prin- 
 ciple that the holders of licences abolished on the 
 grounds that they were not necessary should be com- 
 pensated out of a fund to be formed by the members of 
 the trade itself. The levies for this fund amounted in 
 1905 to 1,136,098, and in 1906 to 1,062,978, the 
 decrease in 1906 being mainly due to the fact that the 
 County of London imposed three-quarters of the 
 maximum rate instead of the maximum, as in 1905. 
 In the case of very many of the large brewery com- 
 panies the contributions thus paid were equivalent 
 to 2 per cent, on the ordinary shares. Even then the 
 compensation granted did not and never can cover 
 the actual loss sustained, all the expenses of both 
 sides having to be met out of the fund, while those 
 paying the levies did not necessarily benefit, inasmuch 
 as, in addition to the payments they had to make, their 
 own houses might be so far away from those abolished 
 that they could not hope to secure any increase of trade 
 for themselves in consequence of the reduction in 
 number. The Act clearly recognized the right of exist- 
 ing licences to a reasonable security of tenure by pro- 
 viding that they should not be suppressed (except for 
 misconduct or other such reasons) without compensa- 
 tion ; but such compensation had to be raised by the 
 trade itself, while the inclusion of the ante-i86g beer- 
 houses within the Act naturally constituted a serious
 
 COMPENSATION : THE ACT OF 1904 251 
 
 set-off to any suggestion of ' advantage,' in the way of 
 an approach to a fixity of tenure, otherwise conferred 
 on the trade. The allegation made by certain critics 
 that the Act of 1904 was ' a brewers' endowment Act ' 
 is, therefore, certainly not warranted by the real facts 
 of the case. It is noteworthy, too, that when the Bill 
 was under discussion in the House of Commons speaker 
 after speaker rose and declared, in effect, ' If you pass 
 this Bill you will establish such a legal right for licensed 
 houses that you will render impossible for a generation 
 various reforms we are anxious to see brought about.' 
 Now that the Bill has become law the same party which 
 raised these protests is inclined to ignore the said legal 
 right, and is seeking to bring about the very innovations 
 it had said would be impossible for a generation. 
 
 The Act has already, led to a considerable reduction 
 in the number of licensed houses. Even in 1905, when 
 the measure was not yet in full working order, the total 
 number of 'on' licences suppressed, with compensation, 
 was 519 ; and it is an especially significant fact that 
 this number included no fewer than 315 ante-i869 beer- 
 houses. The corresponding refusals in 1906 amounted 
 t 1,575- These figures, too, are independent of licences 
 surrendered from various causes, including demolitions 
 in the carrying out of public improvements ; nor is 
 account taken in them of the considerable reduction in 
 the number of new licences granted. Adding these 
 further items, the net reductions were : in 1905, 772 ; 
 in 1906, 1,839; net tota l f r two years, 2,611. The 
 average for 1894-1904 was 359, and for 1903-1904, 644 
 per annum. Between 1894 and 1905 ' on ' licences in 
 England and Wales decreased by 4,157, although in 
 the same period there was an increase of over 4,000,000 
 in the population. Bearing all these facts in mind, it 
 might fairly have been assumed that in the course of a
 
 252 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 few more years the number of houses would have been 
 brought well within the actual requirements of the 
 country, and that the Act of 1904 should, therefore, have 
 had a fair chance of proving what it could accomplish. 
 
 The small amount of consideration shown to the 
 licence-holders and the substantial increase in the 
 number of suppressed licences have, however, alike 
 failed to satisfy certain sections of the ' reformers,' 
 whose hostility to the trade is, apparently, too great to 
 permit them to exercise the virtues either of justice or 
 of patience. 
 
 One fundamental proposition advanced by the party 
 in question is that the members of the trade have no 
 claim to compensation when their licences are sup- 
 pressed, inasmuch as (they argue) there has never been 
 any legal right to the renewal of an annual licence, or 
 any claim to a fixity of tenure nothing but an * expec- 
 tation ' which was not a certainty, the justices always 
 having power to refuse renewal. 
 
 This contention ignores, in the first place, those anti- 
 1869 beer-houses which, representing one-third of the 
 total number of places holding ' on ' licences, had a 
 clearly defined legal right to renewal down to 1904, 
 except in certain contingencies. It further ignores 
 various all-important considerations in regard to other 
 houses. While it is true that the licences are granted 
 for one year only, there has hitherto been an ' expecta- 
 tion ' which, in practice, amounted to a certainty, that 
 they would be renewed except for misconduct on the 
 part of the holder. This may not have been actual 
 statutory law, but it represents an instance where a 
 custom, in vogue since the fifteenth century, was prac- 
 tically tantamount to law. Following on such custom 
 men have no more hesitated to invest their capital in 
 public-houses, with every confidence in renewal, than
 
 CONTINUITY 253 
 
 they would have hesitated to spend money on a costly 
 gun, because the licence granted in respect of it was 
 only an annual one. 
 
 The State has recognized continuity in the concession 
 of a public-house licence in the basis on which death 
 duties have been levied, a memorandum issued by the 
 Inland Revenue on May 14, 1890, stating that it is 
 assumed, in the assessment of such duties, * that the 
 licence will continue to be renewed,' as ' without a licence 
 there would be no goodwill '; and it is this goodwill that 
 is chargeable to duty, many thousands of pounds having, 
 under these conditions, been paid thereon. The Courts 
 of Justice have recognized the continuity by preventing 
 a tenant for life from suppressing licences on a settled 
 estate to the injury of his immediate successor or of a 
 remote remainder man, and also by awarding heavy 
 damages for the loss of a licence against a tenant hold- 
 ing under an agreement not to endanger the licence. 
 Magistrates have recognized the same principle by 
 sanctioning, or even calling upon publicans to make, 
 extensive and costly structural alterations, on a scale 
 which would have been absolutely unjust or reckless, if 
 not ruinous, if there had been no more than a pro- 
 blematical expectation of renewal after a single year. 
 Local authorities have recognized the principle in their 
 assessments of public-house property, and in giving 
 compensation at full market value when taking over 
 such property for public improvements, allowance being 
 made even for a freeholder's reversion at the end of a 
 long period. The Stock Exchange has recognized it by 
 encouraging the formation of companies whose opera- 
 tions were largely based on this principle. Trustees 
 and others have recognized it by investing in public- 
 house property, in the aggregate, vast sums of money, 
 which a single year's trading could not possibly repay ;
 
 254 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 by attributing to such property a distinct market value, 
 because of the expectation of licence-renewal ; and by 
 cherishing the assurance that the Legislature would not 
 seek to evade its moral and equitable obligations to 
 licence-holders by a resort to what, in effect, is little 
 more than a legal quibble. 
 
 It was left for the teetotal party to start the legal- 
 right-for-one-year-only and the no-claim-to-compensa- 
 tion theories ; but of these the Act of 1904 has now 
 effectively disposed, and the effect of this Act must be 
 borne in mind in the framing of all fresh legislation. 
 
 While, however, the principle of compensation has 
 thus been definitely recognized, the Temperance Legis- 
 lation League has put forward a scheme for ' the enact- 
 ment of a time limit to the operation of the compensa- 
 tion clauses of the Act of 1904, with a provision that 
 thereafter all licences shall be regarded as new licences, 
 and be granted only on payment of the full monopoly 
 value ' that is to say, the difference between the value 
 of the premises when licensed and their value without 
 a licence. It is further proposed to give to localities a 
 power of local option which would (a) authorize the 
 local licensing authorities to shorten hours of sale and 
 require entire closing on Sundays and other special 
 days ; (6) enable a substantial majority to prevent the 
 issue of licences to ordinary public-houses, as distinct 
 from special hotel, restaurant, and ' off ' licences ; and 
 (c) ' give power to place all the licences, or all the " on " 
 licences, in a locality under disinterested (not municipal) 
 management, in order that the traffic there might be 
 conducted without the stimulus of private profit, and 
 under statutory regulations which would prevent direct 
 or appreciable pecuniary gain resulting therefrom to the 
 locality itself.' 
 
 Looking first at what might be called the working de-
 
 TIME LIMIT 255 
 
 tails of this time-limit scheme, one finds that during the 
 full period fixed upon (and the suggestions on this point 
 have ranged from five years to thirty) those public- 
 houses that were allowed to remain in operation would 
 have to pay levies as compensation for the extinction 
 of such licences as the magistrates year by year thought 
 fit to suppress. At the end of the term the whole of 
 those which still remained would be deprived of their 
 licences without a penny of compensation, notwith- 
 standing the substantial sums they had been paying 
 to their neighbours, on the same account, during the 
 whole of the period in question. As a matter of detail, 
 too, the least desirable among the licensed houses 
 would naturally have been selected first for extinction 
 during the time limit, and compensation either in full 
 or in part would have been paid in respect to the whole 
 of them. Those that remained at the end of the time 
 limit would belong to the better, if not the best, class 
 of public-houses, and would, in effect, represent the 
 survival of the fittest. Yet, just because they had re- 
 mained beyond the time limit period, their licences 
 would be suppressed without any compensation what- 
 ever. How could such a procedure as this possibly be 
 reconciled with any ordinary conceptions of justice and 
 fair play ? 
 
 Another serious problem that would arise is in con- 
 nection with the up-keep of the houses. If the interest 
 of a publican in his licensed house be limited to fifteen, 
 twenty, or any other number of years, he will be dis- 
 posed to spend on it only just such amount as will be 
 necessary to keep the place going until the end of his 
 term. In the last year or two he will probably spend 
 nothing at all if he can possibly avoid it, and it would 
 certainly not be just on the part of the magistrates to 
 make him go on laying out money on premises he may
 
 256 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 soon have to quit, especially as the earnings he makes 
 will already fail, in all probability, to form an adequate 
 sinking fund for his loss of capital. 
 
 Public-house property would thus be left to de- 
 teriorate, and public-house keepers would probably do 
 the same. They would be something more than human 
 if they did not lose heart in a doomed and discredited 
 business. They would naturally try to make all they 
 could out of the concern in the few years still left to 
 them. If one licensee died, or retired before the end 
 of the time limit, much difficulty would probably be 
 found in securing a really desirable man to take his 
 place. So in all these circumstances the condition of 
 British public-houses by the end of the allotted period 
 would probably be worse than ever before in their 
 history, in which fact, were it realized, the prohibi- 
 tionists would doubtless find fresh arguments for 
 suppressing them altogether. 
 
 If at the end of the time limit brewery companies or 
 individual licensees wished still to carry on what they 
 had hitherto regarded as their own business, they would 
 have to follow up the loss they had already sustained 
 in regard to their original capital by getting the licences 
 again (if they could) as new licences, ' on payment of the 
 full monopoly value.' They may already have paid this 
 said value to some one else when they first acquired the 
 premises. They may have greatly increased such value 
 by a generous expenditure on the property, and by the 
 increased reputation which their name, the character 
 of their commodities, and their prudent management, 
 have given to the place. But these things are to count 
 only in assessing the price they must pay over again 
 if they desire still to carry on the business. In the 
 first place, if they are deprived of the monopoly value, 
 'it is,' as Lord Salisbury declared in the House of
 
 AFTER TIME LIMIT 257 
 
 Lords on August 4, 1904, ' absolute pillage ; it is 
 robbing them of what they have paid for ' ; while, in 
 the second place, the higher figure at which such value 
 will be assessed, because of their own expenditure on 
 the property since their original purchase thereof, will 
 be the exact equivalent in the licensing world of what 
 is universally recognized as a great injustice in the 
 agricultural world the taxing, namely, of a tenant on 
 his own improvements. 
 
 The lease of the property would, of course, not be 
 determined by the discontinuance of the licence, and 
 this would be one advantage in favour of the old 
 licensee when the licence was put up for sale to the 
 highest bidder over a competitor who had to build a 
 house in which to carry on business under the licence 
 he secured. But the value of the property without a 
 licence would be most seriously depreciated for the 
 existing lessees, and though they might dispose of the 
 place to the new licensee, they would probably get 
 from him no more than a no-licence value. In that 
 case he would enter on the business without paying 
 anything for goodwill to his predecessors, so that he 
 would directly benefit from what they had done in the 
 way of helping to build the business up, and he and 
 the State would thus share the plunder between them. 
 
 The more favoured plan, however, among the 
 reformers, and the one specially recommended by the 
 Temperance Legislation League, is that, on the expira- 
 tion of the "time limit, all the licences or at least all 
 the ' on ' licences, in a locality should be placed ' under 
 disinterested (not municipal) management.' This ques- 
 tion of disinterested management I have already dis- 
 cussed at some length, and I will here say no more 
 than that if, at the end of the time limit, there should 
 be any attempt to bring the public-houses of Great 
 
 17
 
 258 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 Britain generally under the operation of so thoroughly 
 impracticable a scheme (from the point of view of our 
 national conditions), supervised by groups of philanthro- 
 pists possessed of no practical experience in the manage- 
 ment of so peculiarly complicated, responsible, and 
 worrying a business, the inevitable effect would be to 
 make confusion still worse confounded. 
 
 Then there arises this further consideration : Who- 
 ever took over the licences from the present holders at 
 the end of the time limit, whether they were individuals 
 or disinterested management companies, would, as we 
 have seen, have to pay for them ' the full monopoly 
 value,' which in many, if not most, cases would repre- 
 sent a considerable sum of money. Presumably the 
 said value would be paid for, not by a sum down, but 
 through the licence, or in the form of a rack-rent. The 
 State, or the taxpayers representing the State, would 
 gain substantially, while a heavier burden would be 
 thrown on those engaging in the reorganized trade, 
 since they would have to provide for this (further) 
 payment of full monopoly value, in addition, it may be, 
 to spending a considerable amount either on proper- 
 ties which the outgoing licensees might towards the 
 end have allowed to deteriorate, or on new premises 
 to take their place. But what guarantee would either 
 individual traders or disinterested management com- 
 panies have that they would secure fixity of tenure 
 for at least a period sufficiently long to allow of their 
 recouping themselves for their outlay, as well as of 
 their getting a reasonable return thereon ? 
 
 If there were any question of risks of this sort, it is 
 hardly likely that any discreet individuals or companies 
 would care to enter on so uncertain a business. Alter- 
 natively, if, under the fresh conditions, the licences 
 were granted for a fixed term of years so that the
 
 THE PROBLEM ONLY POSTPONED 259 
 
 holders might have a reasonable prospect of getting 
 their money back the result would be the creation of 
 vested interests of a type which it is the special desire 
 of the teetotal party to avoid. The fixed term of years, 
 again, would bring in fresh difficulties in regard to both 
 the control of the houses (since the licensee would be in 
 a more independent position than is the case now), and 
 the suppression of the licence in case of misconduct. 
 
 In effect, the licensing problem, instead of being 
 solved, would come up afresh at the end of the time 
 limit in a more acute form than ever. 
 
 The very essence of that problem lies in the fact that 
 no licensee, sinking in a public-house business a sub- 
 stantial amount of capital, can hope to get it all back, 
 and make a living wage as well, within the one year for 
 which alone, as the teetotal party insist, the licence is 
 granted. 
 
 On the other hand, it is the very essence of the 
 Temperance Legislation League proposal that the new 
 licensee shall pay the ' full monopoly value,' so that the 
 total capital invested in the business would be larger 
 than ever, and the difficulty of recoupment would also 
 be greater than ever. 
 
 Here one must further remember that, whether the 
 new licences at the end of the time limit were reissued 
 annually or for a stated term of years, it would be an 
 essential factor in the new situation that the licensee 
 must get out of the business the whole of the sum he is to 
 pay in respect to full monopoly value, plus licence, duty 
 and taxes, outlay on premises, wages and other expenses, 
 and profit for himself. He would start handicapped by 
 the dead weight of abnormally heavy payments, and it 
 would consequently be to his direct personal and 
 pecuniary interest to ' push the sales ' as much as he 
 could, and extract from the pockets of his customers 
 
 172
 
 260 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 sufficient to cover, not only the ordinary expenses of 
 the business, as at present, but the extraordinary 
 expenses as well. In conditions such as these there 
 does not seem to be much scope for ' temperance,' or 
 even for a really 'disinterested management.' How, 
 indeed, can it possibly be represented that they would 
 be a sufficient improvement on the conditions already 
 existing to justify an attempted reconstruction of the 
 whole licensing system ? 
 
 Time limit, as proposed by the Temperance Legis- 
 lation League, really means confiscation. The avowed 
 object of the scheme is to reject, at the end of a 
 specified period, all claim to renewal of licences, and 
 all question of compensation ; to deprive licences of 
 the attribute of property from any point of view, and to 
 open up the field for any fresh experiment that parties 
 of philanthropists or others may think fit to suggest. 
 In the circumstances, the first essential for those now 
 engaged in the business is that they should arrange 
 a sinking fund in order to make their financial position 
 secure. 
 
 It is all very well to say that the trade made a bad 
 investment in the past in paying so much for monopoly 
 values which properly belonged to the State. It might 
 more reasonably be argued that the State itself made 
 a mistake in parting with such values, though, on the 
 other hand, the State has had an extremely substantial 
 return through the heavy taxation it has imposed on 
 the trade. It does not necessarily follow that, because 
 the State may be dissatisfied with this extremely sub- 
 stantial return, and want to raise still more money out 
 of the trade, it would therefore be justified in going 
 back on its own bargain, and repairing the fault it 
 committed generations ago by now taking these 
 monopoly values out of the hands of the present
 
 MONOPOLY VALUE 261 
 
 holders. Granted that successive Governments have 
 acted unwisely in giving to some individual a present 
 of a licence having a marketable value of 10,000 or 
 20,000 without themselves retaining the monopoly 
 value of the concession, the factors in the situation 
 become altogether different when the original holder, 
 or his successor, has sold out to (say) a buyer who has 
 paid him the 10,000 or 20,000 in question, and 
 enabled him to go into comfortable retirement. It 
 would be a procedure both illogical and unjust for the 
 State now to say to such buyer : ' We made a mistake 
 in letting A. B. have that licence for nothing, when it 
 was really worth 10,000. It is true that you have 
 paid A. B. 10,000 for it, but the State has not had 
 the money. Therefore you must agree to pay the 
 State as well 10,000 for full monopoly value before 
 you can be allowed to continue the business you have 
 taken over.' 
 
 It is said, again, that the buyers of public-house 
 property themselves made a mistake in giving as much 
 as they have done for the rights they secured ; and it 
 is added (with an entire disregard of the argument 
 advanced on behalf of the State) that therefore they 
 must bear the consequences. One should remember, 
 however, that the buyers acted on the traditions of 
 centuries, and that those of them that are companies 
 operated in raising capital through the Stock Exchange, 
 whose members, and also the investing public in general, 
 believed no less implicitly than themselves in the in- 
 tegrity of the principle of recognized continuity. 
 
 Whatever the view taken on all these matters, the 
 practical fact remains that very large sums of money 
 have been invested in public-house property by traders 
 or shareholders, and that, as an ordinary business 
 principle, provision would have to be made against
 
 262 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 the loss of this capital at the end of the time limit. It 
 is suggested that the companies should make use of 
 their increased profits during the time limit period in 
 order to write down steadily the value of the business 
 in their books. But these increased profits are dis- 
 tinctly problematical. They might, and probably would, 
 be fully counterbalanced by the compensation payments 
 to be made ; and here one must remember it is proposed 
 that, during the period of the time limit, the compensa- 
 tion charges shall be made national and compulsory, 
 and increased indefinitely, so as ' to render it possible 
 to get rid of as many licences as it is deemed desirable 
 to refuse to renew.' Nor do the proposals of the 
 Temperance Legislation League, in respect to shorter 
 hours and total closing on Sunday, strengthen the idea 
 of increased profits. One can hardly assume, either, 
 that the League would approve a policy of ' pushing 
 the sales' during the time limit period, so that the said 
 greater profits could be assured. Apart from the fact 
 that preference and debenture holders would lose a 
 large proportion of their capital, it is certain that the 
 ordinary profits would not be in any way sufficient 
 to provide for a sinking fund on a really adequate 
 basis. 
 
 To illustrate this fact I have obtained, as an example, 
 some facts as to the position of a long-established brewery 
 company which trades in beer only, eight-tenths of its 
 output going to tied houses purchased by the company. 
 The average net profit available for dividends on the 
 ordinary shares is 12,600. If the whole of this profit 
 were put annually to a sinking fund for twenty-one 
 years at 3 per cent., it would produce 360,000. The 
 sums to be provided for out of such fund would be as 
 follows :
 
 THE 'SINKING FUND' THEORY 263 
 
 
 
 (a] Mortgage debentures, mortgagees, etc. ... 354,000 
 
 (6) i. Preference shares ... ... ... 174,000 
 
 2. Ordinary shares (present value) ... 200,000 
 
 (c) Pension fund (for 200 employes) ... 10,000 
 
 Total ... 738,000 
 
 But, inasmuch as the sinking fund would produce 
 only 360,000, there would be a deficit of 378,000 in 
 meeting all these items. It is clear that the property 
 of the brewery, minus licences and the ability to con- 
 tinue as a going concern, would not satisfy (a). Even 
 if it did, the sinking fund would not satisfy the two 
 items of (b) plus (c) ; and the pension fund, on which 
 the employes depend for their provision for old age and 
 the reward of thrift, would vanish. Meanwhile the 
 ordinary shareholders would have had no dividends for 
 twenty-one years ; all the expert officials and skilled 
 workers would probably have sought some other form 
 of employment, and the debenture shareholders would 
 be left with merely the wreck of the original business. 
 
 The net result of time limit would inevitably be to 
 render practically valueless Stock Exchange securities 
 based on licence values estimated by Mr. E. N. Buxton, 
 chairman of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton and Co., Ltd., 
 at 150,000,000. This huge capital would be absorbed 
 by the State, in the interests of the general taxpayer, 
 and investors including many trustees who had put 
 money in such securities in the hope of securing from 
 3! to 4^ per cent, thereon would find themselves 
 stranded. Well may Mr. Buxton protest, as he does 
 in the National Review for February, 1907, that ' to 
 confiscate these (licence) values, not on the plea of the 
 public advantage of a reduction of licences, which is 
 now fully provided for, but in order that the State may
 
 264 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 obtain a purchase price for them from other holders, is 
 to advocate public plunder.' 
 
 If the position thus brought about were hard for the 
 ordinary brewery shareholder, it would be harder still 
 for the long leaseholder. Take the case of a licensed 
 victualler who has invested the whole of his money 
 as many licensed victuallers have in licensed property, 
 with (say) fifty years of the lease still to run. He will 
 have paid a substantial premium on going into the 
 business ; he may have spent a considerable amount 
 either by desire of the licensing magistrates or other- 
 wise on rebuilding, altering, or improving premises 
 he expects to remain licensed for the full period of his 
 lease ; and he is bound to pay, during such period 
 a rent calculated on the value of the premises as a 
 licensed house, whereas their actual value withou 
 a licence will be only that of an ordinary shop or 
 other place of business. So, through absolutely no 
 fault of his own, but under the operation of the time 
 limit, he loses the licence at the end of twenty-one 
 years, or some other such period ; and from that time 
 (i) the money he has paid as a premium is lost ; (2) the 
 amount spent on rebuilding or alterations to make the 
 premises more suitable for a public-house will have 
 spoilt the place for any other business ; while (3) under 
 the terms of his lease he must still go on paying the 
 enhanced rental for a privilege he no longer enjoys. 
 No sinking fund he could possibly create out of his 
 profits would cover all these contingencies, and no 
 compensation likely to be paid to him, should his 
 licence be suppressed during the operation of the time 
 limit, would save him from heavy loss. As for any 
 freeholder who expects the reversion of licensed pro- 
 perty on the expiration of the period for which he has 
 granted a lease, there seems to be no chance of com-
 
 CONFISCATION 265 
 
 pensation for him for the eventual sacrifice of his own 
 interest. 
 
 Bearing all these things in mind, the word ' confisca- 
 tion ' does not seem to be in any way too harsh a term 
 to use. The whole scheme, if carried out with the 
 authority of the law, would be one of legalized plunder ; 
 and the day it was adopted would, in the city of London 
 at least, be gloomier than any Black Friday yet recorded. 
 That the interests concerned in the licensing trade go 
 far beyond brewery companies, distillers, shareholders, 
 and publicans, I purpose to show in the following 
 chapter ; but certain it is, in face of the facts already 
 presented, that any approach to serious interference 
 with the trade would inevitably lead to widespread 
 disaster. 
 
 Beyond all this, however, the carrying out of such 
 a scheme of confiscation would have further grave 
 results in a loss of confidence in British institutions, 
 and especially in British investments. For 400 years 
 the State has allowed private individuals to receive the 
 monopoly value of public-houses, and many millions of 
 pounds have been advanced to brewery companies by 
 British investors, small and large, in a reasonably 
 cherished faith in the continuance of such custom, the 
 security for those millions being public-house licences. 
 Now, at the bidding of a particular section of the 
 teetotal party, which claims only to represent about 
 10 per cent, of the entire community, and is constituted 
 largely of the type of people known as ' faddists,' the 
 whole position is to be changed : a considerable number 
 of individuals are to be ruined ; property regarded as 
 having a distinct market value is to be taken from the 
 hands of one set of traders and put into the hands of 
 another ; and the community at large is to approve of 
 the procedure because the millions that are ' recovered,'
 
 266 LICENSING QUESTIONS OF TO-DAY 
 
 as the result of the plunder, will make such an addition 
 to the State treasury that the taxpayers of the country 
 may expect to benefit therefrom ; though, in truth, if 
 the proposals are seriously made in the cause of temper- 
 ance, a great decrease in the number of houses and in 
 the consumption of alcoholic liquor must be expected, 
 with a corresponding loss of revenue. 
 
 Such, in effect, is the scheme put forward in the 
 joint names of ' temperance' and ' disinterested manage- 
 ment.' 
 
 Once established, the fundamental principle of this 
 plan of plunder might be carried much further. Why 
 should not a ' Back-to-the-Land ' party, at some future 
 date, induce a weak-minded Government, keen on 
 votes, to give notice of a ' time limit ' to landowners, 
 and tell them that, after a certain term of years, during 
 which they could devote the rents to the formation of 
 a sinking fund, their land would be taken from them, 
 and, in the public interests, offered by the State to the 
 highest bidder ? What, again, would the Bishops who 
 are supporting the Temperance Legislation League say 
 to a ' time limit ' to Church property, as a possible 
 solution of the Disestablishment problem ? 
 
 If the principle in question can rightly be applied 
 to licensed property sanctioned by the State for four 
 centuries, it can quite as justly be applied to other 
 forms of property as well. In the same way, if, in the 
 words of the Temperance Legislation League, a ' sub- 
 stantial majority ' of the people are to have the right 
 to vote for the closing of public-houses which they 
 individually may not want, but which nevertheless 
 fulfil a lawful and reasonable purpose, based on funda- 
 mental requirements of our nature, why should not a 
 substantial majority of (say) Dissenters have a right to 
 vote for the suppression of the Church of England,
 
 BROADER ISSUES 267 
 
 with whose tenets they may not agree ? On the other 
 hand, what would have been the position of Non- 
 conformity itself in its earlier days if a ' substantial 
 majority ' had been allowed completely to override the 
 rights of a minority ? 
 
 It must, in all charity, be supposed that the Bishops 
 and other influential people who have put their names 
 to the scheme of the Temperance Legislation League 
 cannot possibly have appreciated all that it really 
 implies.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 IN considering the various schemes and proposals which 
 have been advanced from time to time, having for their 
 object either the immediate suppression of the traffic 
 in intoxicants or the taking of various steps preliminary 
 thereto, it is desirable that the British public should 
 realize somewhat the nature and extent of the trade it 
 is thus proposed to crush out of existence, and the 
 effect such a proceeding might have on the economic 
 conditions of the country. 
 
 The actual amount of capital invested in the liquor 
 industries cannot be definitely stated. It is a matter 
 of calculation only. According to the ' Brewers' 
 Almanack ' for 1907, the probable total is 240,000,000, 
 made up as follows : 
 
 Capital value of breweries and distilleries and 
 
 their licensed property in the United 
 Kingdom ... ... ... ... 215,000,000 
 
 Capital value of all licensed houses not in- 
 cluded in the above, say ... ... 15,000,000 
 
 Capital value of the wine and spirit trades 
 and all other trades in connection with 
 alcoholic liquors, say ... ... 10,000,000 
 
 240,000,000 
 
 Assuming, for the sake of argument, that this cal- 
 culation is approximately correct, one may at the outset 
 
 268
 
 INVESTMENTS AND INVESTORS 269 
 
 conclude that any suppression of, or even any serious 
 interference with, a trade of this magnitude, could not 
 fail to have a considerable effect on the money market 
 and on the interests of investors, though many teetotal 
 advocates seem to cherish the impression that the 
 financial disturbance which would inevitably follow on 
 the full achievement of their proposals represents quite 
 a secondary consideration, not worth setting against 
 the ' moral ' results they hope to achieve. 
 
 Then, according to these same critics, the profits 
 made by the trade as the result of this large investment 
 of capital are ' enormous,' and this alleged fact is held 
 up against the traders, both as a reproach and as a 
 reason for at least imposing still further burdens upon 
 them. It is easy enough to see how the impression 
 has originated. There are certain specially successful 
 brewery companies which pay exceptionally large 
 dividends (just as there are similarly successful indi- 
 vidual enterprises in the chemical and other industries), 
 and because of this, it is assumed that brewery com- 
 panies in general are accumulating much wealth at the 
 cost of their patrons. The real position is inciden- 
 tally shown in an article published in The Statist of 
 January 19, 1907, where details are given concerning a 
 list of seventy-eight brewery companies, restricted to 
 (a) those companies that publish accounts ; (b) those 
 whose share and loan capital is quoted on the London 
 Stock Exchange ; and (c) those only whose combined 
 share and loan capital is not less than 270,000. In 
 the seventy-eight companies noticed there is a total 
 capital of 90,508,237 (made up of 41,104,342 de- 
 bentures; 25,860,780 preference; and 23,543,115 
 ordinary) ; and the writer says : ' On this total of 
 90,508,237 the net profits earned have amounted to 
 5,356,014, or a return of about 5*9 per cent., which
 
 270 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 cannot by any means be deemed excessive.' While 
 some of the companies on the list show ordinary 
 dividends of 12, 14, 17, 22, and even 22^ per cent., 
 there are eight whose dividend is nil, nine that pay 
 i, 2, 2^, or 3 per cent., and thirteen that pay between 
 3 and 5 per cent. It is a question, therefore, of taking 
 an average, as The Statist does, and not of basing an 
 estimate of general conditions on the exceptional suc- 
 cesses of a select few. 
 
 These considerations detract substantially from the 
 arguments advanced from various quarters that, because 
 the trade is so wealthy, therefore it can stand the 
 imposition of still further financial burdens. The 
 magnitude of those already borne is certainly beyond 
 all dispute. The taxation derived from the trade in 
 1906 amounted to 29,697,952 under the head of 
 Excise, and 4,900,146 under that of Customs, a total 
 of 34,598,098, which represented nearly a quarter 
 of the total Exchequer receipts. Adding to these 
 amounts a further 3,447,843 raised from the trade 
 for licences, and on the extra beer and spirit duties in 
 relief of local taxation, we increase the total contribu- 
 tion by the trade to 38,000,000. 
 
 Once again, therefore, one must consider what would 
 happen when, after the prohibitionists had totally sup- 
 pressed a trade with a capital of 240,000,000 (or there- 
 abouts), they left the general taxpayers of the country to 
 contribute an additional 38,000,000 a year in the way 
 of an expanded income-tax or otherwise. Prohibitionist 
 advocates make light of this matter of detail when they 
 trouble to deal with it at all, but the question is one 
 that would certainly fall at once within the purview of 
 those laying claim to practical statesmanship. It may 
 or may not be a moral wrong that Governments should 
 depend to so large an extent for their financial resources
 
 TAXATION 
 
 271 
 
 on the amount they can raise from the trade. What 
 we have to deal with, however, is not academical 
 theories of right or wrong, but the logic of accom- 
 plished facts ; and the essential point of the situation 
 is that if the 38,000,000 is no longer secured from 
 the trade in alcoholic liquors, it will have to be raised 
 in some other way. 
 
 The amount of the total contribution by the trade to 
 the National Exchequer is the more deserving of being 
 borne in mind because of the contention that in the 
 United Kingdom less is paid for public-house licences 
 than in the United States, and that the charges here 
 should therefore be raised. The fact is, however, that 
 in the United Kingdom it is the manufactured article 
 rather than the permit for selling it that is looked to as 
 a means of raising public revenue, and it might reason- 
 ably be suggested that a trade which, as we see, adds 
 38,000,000 a year to the finances of the country, and 
 pays an average dividend (taking the basis of The 
 Statist figures) of not more than 5*9 per cent., already 
 contributes its fair share. It is more than open to ques- 
 tion whether the limit of taxation as enforced against the 
 licensed trade has not already been reached. The total 
 derived from the trade has been showing a significant 
 decline of late years, as the following figures indicate : 
 
 Year. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1901 
 
 39,138,995 
 
 1904 
 
 36,818,719 
 
 I9O2 
 
 37,138,588 
 
 1905 
 
 35,175,209 
 
 1903 
 
 37,875,956 
 
 1906 
 
 34,598,089 
 
 The fact is that for a long period of years the licensed 
 trade was the milch cow of successive Chancellors of 
 the Exchequer, and the imposition upon it of still
 
 272 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 heavier burdens was always popular in certain quarters, 
 if only because increased taxation was likely to prejudice 
 ' the traffic.' It has so happened that such further 
 taxation has been imposed for a particular purpose, and 
 then diverted to one altogether different, or it has been 
 continued long after the special object has no longer 
 existed. In 1890, when fresh licensing proposals were 
 under discussion, Mr. Goschen had a plan that 440,000, 
 drawn from the trade, should be devoted annually to 
 licence purchase. The licensing proposals were dropped, 
 but the 440,000 has been levied ever since and de- 
 voted to other purposes, over 7,000,000 having thus 
 been got out of the trade. Then, the special war taxes 
 of is. a barrel on beer and 6d. a gallon on spirits, 
 levied in support of the South African campaign, have 
 been continued, notwithstanding the fact that peace 
 was declared in 1902, the amount secured from the 
 trade on this account up to March 31, 1907, being 
 close on 19,500,000. Adding to all this the increase 
 in local rates (the burden of which has fallen twice as 
 heavily on the licensed trade as on the rest of the com- 
 munity), and, finally, the weight of the compensation 
 levy, any unprejudiced person must admit that the 
 trade may well be regarded as having already been 
 taxed beyond the limit of its capacity. In fact, the 
 suggestions of further heavy burdens, whether in the 
 way of direct taxation, high licence, or payment of ' full 
 monopoly value ' (for which, one would think, the 
 38,000,000 a year was already a fair equivalent), must 
 be prompted, not by a conscientious conviction that 
 the business is inadequately taxed, but by a desire to 
 pave the way still further for that complete suppression 
 of the trade itself which its enemies know could not be 
 effected by honest and straightforward proposals for 
 effective prohibition.
 
 BREWERY SHAREHOLDERS 273 
 
 These distinctly merciless attacks are persevered in 
 with the less scruple because it is imagined that the 
 liquor trade is in the hands of a comparatively few 
 wealthy brewers, whom it would delight the teetotal 
 extremists to be able to despoil. This, however, is a 
 fallacy as regards the conditions to-day. The con- 
 version of former brewery firms into limited liability 
 companies led to a widespread purchase of shares 
 therein by small investors ; and as typical of the general 
 position reference might be made to one leading 
 company which has about 8,700 share and debenture 
 holders, of whom no fewer than 5,000 have holdings 
 not exceeding 200 each. Influenced by ' the custom 
 of the country ' in regard to the renewal of licences, 
 many of the shrewdest and most cautious business men 
 had become accustomed to regard brewery debentures 
 as a gilt-edged security, and investors of the thrifty, 
 prudent, and careful type, who did not want to specu- 
 late, but preferred safety with a modest return, on 
 gilt-edged lines, especially favoured these debentures, 
 the difference in the holding of which and of the 
 ordinary shares is well illustrated by the figures quoted 
 from The Statist on page 269. Individuals of the type 
 here mentioned were surely better judges of business 
 security, under normal conditions, than the average 
 members of the Temperance Legislation League, and 
 they can hardly be blamed now for having failed to 
 anticipate that the latter might one day bring forward 
 a scheme of plunder wholly inconsistent with British 
 traditions either of finance or of justice. 
 
 It is mainly on persons of the aforesaid thrifty, 
 prudent, and careful type that there would fall the 
 financial losses following on suppression of, or, alter- 
 natively, on undue interference with, the licensed pro- 
 perty which practically constitutes the security for 
 
 18
 
 274 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 their investments. The prejudice, therefore, to the 
 interests of a small number of wealthy ' beer-lords,' as 
 the result of any confiscation scheme that might be 
 carried out, would be far outweighed by the serious 
 harm done to a great number of small investors, who 
 would have abundant cause to rue their confidence in 
 British Governments and British institutions. 
 
 I pass on now to consider the effect that total sup- 
 pression, or even undue interference, might have on 
 the industrial conditions of the country. A favourite 
 argument of teetotal speakers or writers is, in effect : 
 ' The country spends so many million pounds a year 
 on alcoholic beverages. If this money were only saved, 
 it would suffice to give work to every unemployed man 
 in the country.' This seems very plausible, until one 
 begins to look into the question as to the number of 
 persons employed in the production of alcoholic 
 beverages who would themselves be thrown out of 
 work if these beverages were produced no longer. 
 
 Take breweries, for instance. The total output of beer 
 in the United Kingdom in 1906 was 35,019,092 barrels. 
 The production and delivery per annum in a large, 
 well-organized modern brewery and maltings, including 
 directors, office staff, brewers, draymen, and stablemen, 
 might be assumed to be equal to about 500 barrels for 
 each of these individuals. On this fairly representative 
 basis, the number of persons employed in breweries 
 would be 70,038. The average wage per man over all 
 classes comprised in the calculation would be about 
 i 145. 4d. per week. Therefore the annual wage bill 
 for breweries in the United Kingdom may be put at 
 6,249,495. To begin with, therefore, the immediate 
 suppression of breweries alone (apart from distil- 
 leries) would mean that 70,000 persons now engaged 
 therein would be deprived alike of their employ-
 
 BREWERY EMPLOYES 275 
 
 ment and of 6 millions sterling annually in salaries 
 and wages. 
 
 Does the Average Person realize how many different 
 branches of industry may be represented in the personnel 
 of just such a large well-organized brewery as the one 
 here typified ? Among them are : bar-fitters, beer- 
 allowance servers, billposters, blacksmiths, blenders, 
 boiler - stokers, bottlers, brewers, brewery-men, brick- 
 layers and labourers, carpenters, clerks, coachmen, 
 coopers, coppersmiths, copper-stokers, directors, dray- 
 men, electricians, engine- keepers, fire brigade men, 
 fitters, grain-dryers, labourers, maltsters, motor-men, 
 office-cleaners, painters, sign-writers, stable-men, stock- 
 takers, superintendents of houses, travellers, washers 
 (cask), watchmen, wheelwrights, and yardsmen. 
 
 Calculating next, on the basis of the actual figures 
 for a typical group of 800 licensed houses, it may be 
 assumed that seven persons (not including the wives of 
 licensees) are employed in every two houses. This 
 may be taken as a general basis for the whole country, 
 employment varying more through size of house than 
 through the extent of the trade turnover. The number 
 of full beer 'on ' and beer ' off' licences issued in 1906 
 was 138,848. Therefore, on the basis of seven persons 
 for every two houses, the number of persons actually 
 employed in the public-houses of the United Kingdom 
 is 485,968. The average wage per person, inclusive of 
 allowance for keep, and again not reckoning wives of 
 licensees, works out at 60 per annum ; therefore the 
 total annual wage list for the retail trade is 29,158,080. 
 Close all the public-houses, and 485,000 persons now 
 earning their bread will be thrown out of work, and be 
 deprived of 29,000,000 a year in the form either of 
 income or of wages. Taking breweries and public- 
 
 18 2
 
 276 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 houses together, we get 556,000 persons employed, and 
 a total wage bill of 35^ millions. 
 
 Then there are the numerous allied or subsidiary 
 trades which depend to a large extent on the brewing 
 industry for their own success and prosperity. Some 
 of these could not exist if the breweries were closed. 
 Others, while not deriving their business wholly from 
 the breweries, are able to employ a substantially larger 
 number of persons because of the orders they get for 
 the supply of brewers' requisites, the extent of such 
 orders representing, in the aggregate, a very acceptable 
 addition for the merchants or manufacturers to those 
 they obtain in other quarters. 
 
 The most important of these subsidiary interests are 
 represented by various branches of agriculture. There 
 is the question of barley production. If the breweries 
 throughout the country were closed, or even if the 
 consumption of beer were seriously interfered with, 
 the effect would be little short of disastrous for such 
 barley-producing counties as Lincolnshire, Cambridge, 
 Wiltshire, Somersetshire, Hampshire, Kent, and Sussex, 
 as well as for various parts of Scotland. Barley mer- 
 chants, too, would suffer as well as the barley growers, 
 and there would be a still greater inducement than there 
 is already for the flow of agricultural labourers into the 
 towns. 
 
 In another department of agriculture we have to 
 consider the supply of brewers' horses. Calculating 
 on the basis of the actual barrelage and of the average 
 deliveries of barrels per horse per annum, it may be 
 estimated that the brewers of the United Kingdom 
 employ 10,500 horses in their business. The brewery 
 life of such horses averages five years, and the number 
 purchased annually would be 2,100. The breeding of 
 these horses may in itself well be a desirable business
 
 ALLIED TRADES AND INTERESTS 277 
 
 for the agricultural community. In effect, the average 
 price of brewery horses being 60, the horse-breeders, 
 on this basis, receive 126,000 a year for horses alone. 
 Then there is the keep. The horses are very heavy and 
 hard-worked, and their keep and bedding must, there- 
 fore, be put at 40 per annum. Multiply this sum by 
 the average number of horses, and it will be seen that, 
 in addition to 126,000 for the horses, the farmers get 
 420,000 a year for feed a total of 546,000. In these 
 hard times for British agriculture an item like that is 
 not to be despised. 
 
 Nor must the growers of hops, especially in Kent, 
 Worcestershire, and Sussex, together with the hop- 
 factors and the hop-merchants, be overlooked. Would 
 they still be able to get a living out of providing hops 
 for temperance drinks for the inhabitants of the British 
 Isles ? Would, also, the thousands of hop-pickers from 
 the crowded cities and towns who now get remunerative 
 employment and a healthy annual outing in the hop- 
 fields be able to obtain as profitable and as pleasant a 
 change in some other direction ? 
 
 Other trades or occupations which are either wholly 
 or largely dependent on the brewing industry include 
 bar fitters, beer-filter makers, bottle makers, bottlers' 
 machinery makers, brewers' architects, brewers' chemists* 
 brewers' supplies merchants, brewery engineers, brewing 
 instrument makers, caramel manufacturers, cask makers, 
 cask and vat support makers, cold storage companies, 
 cooling-tower makers, coopers and tank builders, dealers 
 in brewers' grains, filter, cloth, and bag makers, isinglass 
 merchants, lorry makers, maize, rice, and grits manu- 
 facturers, malt factors, malt-kiln floor makers, maltsters, 
 manufacturing chemists, oil merchants, racking machine- 
 makers, saccharometer makers, shive makers, sign- 
 writers, stave importers, sugar manufacturers, tapping
 
 278 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 bung makers, valve makers, and vat makers. All these 
 are in the first rank of trades directly concerned in the 
 prosperity of brewing, with which they are so interwoven 
 that already many of them have felt the result of the 
 depressed conditions that have fallen upon the industry 
 on whose welfare they themselves depend. How many 
 individuals are employed in these various trades it would 
 be impossible to say, but the number must be extremely 
 large. So serious, in fact, is the outlook even for these 
 subsidiary branches, as the result of the campaign 
 against the ' traffic,' that there has now been formed 
 an ' Allied Brewery Traders' Association,' which intends 
 to show that the agitation does not alone affect brewers 
 and publicans, but operates to the prejudice of a great 
 number of other traders and workers throughout an 
 almost endless series of ramifications. 
 
 How extensive these ramifications may really be is 
 seen still more clearly by taking count, also, of traders 
 in the second category that is to say, of those who 
 may not be really dependent on the brewing industry, 
 but to whom, nevertheless, the patronage of the brewers 
 may represent an acceptable addition to their ordinary 
 business, and even, in some cases, allow of their employ- 
 ing many more hands than they would otherwise do. 
 Included in this further list are accountants and auditors, 
 advertisement contractors, ammonia manufacturers, 
 auctioneers and valuers, boiler makers, boiler-composi- 
 tion makers, bottle, box, and case makers, brick makers, 
 brush makers, bucket and tinware makers, builders, 
 castings (iron, brass, etc.) manufacturers, chair makers, 
 coal and coke merchants, coppersmiths, copper tube 
 and sheet manufacturers, cork merchants, engine 
 makers, furniture makers, gas - fittings makers, glass 
 makers, hydrometer makers, insurance companies, iron 
 merchants, iron pipe lubricator manufacturers, mill-
 
 AN INDUSTRIAL UPSET 279 
 
 wrights and machinists, motor-waggon makers, paint 
 makers, preservative makers, printers, pump makers, 
 refrigerating and ice-making machinery makers, sack 
 merchants, stone jar and bottle makers, tap makers, ther- 
 mometer makers, timber merchants, waggon builders, 
 yeast dealers, etc. (For full list, see Appendix.) 
 
 It is only in face of such facts as these that one can 
 begin to realize all that, even from a purely economic 
 and industrial standpoint, the ' total suppression ' of the 
 trade in alcoholic beverages would imply, and the idea 
 of bringing about such suppression in order (among 
 other things) to provide work for the unemployed is 
 positively grotesque when we consider how many now 
 active workers might lose their employment if the said 
 suppression were brought about, and how long it would 
 take to ' absorb ' them in other industries. The number 
 of persons employed in, or dependent upon, the liquor 
 trade of the United Kingdom has generally been esti- 
 mated at about 2,000,000. I have before me an elaborate 
 calculation (into the details of which I need not enter) 
 placing the figure at close on 2,500,000. All such 
 estimates are pure guesswork. In making them one 
 does not know where to begin and where to end. The 
 figures are doubtful as regards even the liquor industries 
 themselves. When one comes to all those allied and 
 otherwise interested trades, one gets into a network of 
 complications to which there is scarcely any limit. 
 
 But, leaving actual figures aside, no one who 
 appreciates the significance of the facts here given 
 can doubt that any sudden and effective enforcement 
 of prohibition by Act of Parliament, with a 'total 
 suppression ' of the ' traffic ' in alcoholic beverages, 
 would have so revolutionary an effect, alike on our 
 financial and industrial conditions, that it would spell 
 national disaster. There is, probably, no actual danger
 
 28o THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 that the country would ever really be so foolish as to 
 allow of so risky and so dangerous an experiment being 
 tried ; but what are we to think of the political and 
 economic sagacity of those who so persistently recom- 
 mend prohibition and suppression, and whose provisional 
 ' reforms ' are, as I have said, merely stepping-stones to 
 the attainment of these final aspirations ? 
 
 It is desirable, further, to look somewhat closely into 
 the real nature of the ' Drink Bill,' which often occupies 
 so prominent a position in prohibitionist speeches or 
 writings. The fact that, according to the calculations 
 made, the people of the United Kingdom spent in 1905 
 a sum of 164,167,941 in intoxicating drinks will, for 
 instance, be put forward as essentially one that should 
 'stagger humanity,' and much ingenuity is shown in 
 speculating as to what could be done with that money 
 if the people would only ' save ' it, instead of spending 
 so huge a sum on ' drink.' 
 
 But, taking these figures as they stand, they represent 
 an expenditure of not more than 2|d. per day per head 
 of the population of the United Kingdom, and that 
 really does not seem so very terrible, however substantial 
 the sum-total. Assuming that one half of the popula- 
 tion children and adult abstainers spent nothing on 
 alcoholic beverages, this would still leave an expenditure 
 of not more than 5d. per head per day for the actual 
 consumers. Even this is hardly suggestive of abnormal 
 extravagance, especially considering that it would 
 include the cost of expensive wines consumed by 
 wealthy persons. 
 
 One must further remember that of this total amount 
 expended on drink no less than 38,000,000 represents 
 taxation, which is collected by the dealers in alcoholic 
 beverages, and is paid over by them to the State. It 
 is hardly fair to regard this 38,000,000 as money
 
 THE DRINK BILL 281 
 
 wasted on 'drink,' since it is available for State 
 purposes, and would have to be raised in some way 
 or other, even though no longer falling on the con- 
 sumers of intoxicants. Nor can that portion of the 
 expenditure be regarded as lost which represents wages 
 paid to those engaged in the production of raw materials 
 or the distribution of the finished article. Here it is 
 simply a case of one class of the community, known 
 as consumers, helping to support another class of the 
 community, known as producers. From this point 
 of view it is a matter of circulating, rather than of 
 actually wasting, the amount in question. 
 
 The real problems for consideration are : (i) Whether 
 or not the cost of the materials used in the beverages 
 consumed represents wasted money ; (2) whether or 
 not the expenditure on these particular items is a 
 distinct loss to the consumer himself; and (3) whether 
 or not the money he spends on ' drink ' would be 
 ' saved ' by him, either in its entirety or in large 
 measure, assuming that he adopted teetotal principles. 
 
 The answer to (i) and (2) depends on our conclusions 
 as to the precise benefits to be derived, whether from 
 a physiological, a psychological, or a social standpoint, 
 from the consumption of alcoholic beverages. If one 
 admits that such benefits are so derived, then it follows 
 that the cost of the materials is not wasted, and the 
 expenditure on the part of the consumer is not a distinct 
 loss. If, on the other hand, the benefits are really nil, 
 then the conclusion follows that, while the State gets 
 a good part of its taxation through the Drink Bill, 
 and while many thousands of workers secure employ- 
 ment through the production of ' drink,' the drinker 
 himself derives no advantage from his outlay. Before, 
 therefore, pronouncing definite views on the ' Drink 
 Bill,' the British public require to consider the
 
 282 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 particular purposes good or evil that are served by 
 ' drink ' itself. Merely sensational appeals to sum- 
 totals of expenditure are of no real value, except for 
 platform or newspaper purposes. 
 
 Dealing next with the third point, there is no doubt 
 whatever that many individuals do spend much more on 
 drink than is consistent either with their means or their 
 requirements, and a certain proportion of these probably 
 would ' save ' money if they were either not to take 
 intoxicants at all or if they indulged in them to a less 
 degree. Others, again, representing persons of no 
 great moral stamina, might very well apply to pleasures 
 or excesses of other descriptions the money they no 
 longer expended on ' drink.' The instinctive desire for 
 a ' stimulant,' brought under subjection in regard to 
 liquids, might manifest itself in other directions 
 gambling, betting, and still more harmful forms of 
 excitement or pleasure, ruinous either to the pocket 
 or to the health. These are conditions that are 
 perfectly well known to authorities familiar with the 
 frailties of human nature, and, unless the man himself 
 is changed, the transition merely from one weakness to 
 another may be of no great account, even financially. 
 
 The fact is further overlooked that if the average 
 moderate drinker left off beer, wine, or spirits, he would 
 want something else in their place, especially with his 
 meals ; and if he took Apollinaris or some other im- 
 ported water, or fancy ' temperance ' drinks made at 
 home, together with more coffee, tea, or cocoa, with a 
 more liberal indulgence in ices as well, he might, and 
 probably would, spend quite as much money as if he 
 had at least kept to bottled beer. I am now dealing, 
 not with the physiological fact as to which beverage 
 would do him the most good, but with the economic 
 fact as to the spending or the saving of his money ; and
 
 THE QUESTION OF 'SAVING' 283 
 
 it is conceivable that the expenditure of many a pledged 
 teetotaller on the beverages he patronizes is even more 
 than what an average non-teetotaller would spend on 
 malt liquor. 
 
 This being so, one cannot assume that even the one- 
 third of the ' Drink Bill ' here under consideration would 
 really be ' saved ' by the present drinkers if they no 
 longer spent anything on alcoholic beverages. What 
 would mostly happen would be the substitution of one 
 beverage for another. Then, again, inasmuch as beer 
 is not alone a quencher of thirst, but is also widely 
 recognized as an article of diet, which satisfies when 
 solids are temporarily unattainable, or seems to make 
 a certain quantity of solids go further, one may further 
 assume that if people drank less beer they would eat a 
 larger quantity of solid food. Once more, be it re- 
 membered, I am here considering questions of finance 
 pure and simple; and I would say that, whilst one part 
 of the money saved by the non-consumption of one 
 class of beverages would go in the purchase of another 
 class, a further part would go in a more generous con- 
 sumption of food, so that the actual ' saving ' would be 
 reduced to still smaller proportions. 
 
 In view of all the arguments here advanced, no 
 fallacy could be more complete than that of taking the 
 annual ' Drink Bill,' pointing to the magnitude of the 
 sum-total, and then declaring : ' Look what the country 
 could save if this huge amount were no longer spent on 
 drink !' It is perfectly obvious that the country could 
 do nothing of the kind, even if it were thought ex- 
 pedient to risk the financial and industrial disturbance 
 that would inevitably follow the attempt. 
 
 That individuals who now spend an excessive amount 
 on self-indulgence should mend their ways in the in- 
 terest alike of themselves and of their families represents
 
 284 THE ECONOMICS OF LICENSING 
 
 a perfectly reasonable proposition. But this is a matter 
 that rests between the consciences of those individuals 
 and their friends and sympathizers. However foolish 
 the former may be, and however lamentable their pro- 
 cedure, it does not follow that the social and economic 
 conditions of the country, and one of the main bases 
 on which the national finances depend, should be 
 completely changed in the more or less delusive hope of 
 securing the ultimate reform or reclamation of these 
 morally deficients. 
 
 The whole position must be looked at from the point 
 of view, not of the weakest members of the community, 
 but of the community itself ; and if this be done, the 
 exaggerations indulged in with regard to economic 
 conditions become no less pronounced than those 
 already mentioned in regard to social and physiological 
 conditions. Rather, however, than leave this branch 
 of the subject to depend on my own statements, I 
 would commend to the attention of my readers the 
 following words of wisdom from book iv., chap, iii., of 
 Adam Smith's ' Wealth of Nations ' : 
 
 It is a losing trade, it is said, which the workman carries on with 
 the alehouse ; and the trade which a manufacturing nation would 
 naturally carry on with a wine country may be considered as a trade 
 of the same nature. I answer that the trade with the alehouse 
 is not necessarily a losing trade. In its own nature it is just 
 as advantageous as any other, though perhaps somewhat more 
 liable to be abused. The employment of a brewer, and even that 
 of a retailer of fermented spirits, are as necessarily divisions of 
 labour as any other. It will generally be more advantageous for a 
 workman to buy of the brewer the quantity he has occasion for 
 than to brew it himself; and if he is a poor workman it will 
 generally be more advantageous for him to buy it by little and 
 little from the retailer than a large quantity of the brewer. He 
 may, no doubt, buy too much of either, as he may of any other 
 dealers in his neighbourhood of the butcher, if he is a glutton ; or 
 of the draper, if he affects to be a beau among his companions. It 
 is advantageous to the great body of workmen, notwithstanding, 
 that all these trades should be free, though this freedom may 
 be abused in all of them ; and it is more likely to be so, perhaps,
 
 VIEWS OF ADAM SMITH 285 
 
 in some than others. Though individuals, besides, may sometimes 
 ruin their fortunes by an excessive consumption of fermented 
 liquors, there seems to be no risk that a nation should do so. 
 Though in every country there are many people who spend upon 
 such liquors more than they can afford, there are always many 
 more who spend less. It deserves to be remarked, too, that if we 
 consult experience, the cheapness of wine seems to be a cause, not 
 of drunkenness, but of sobriety. The inhabitants of the wine 
 countries are, in general, the soberest people in Europe. Witness 
 the Spaniards, the Italians, and the inhabitants of the southern 
 provinces of France. People are seldom guilty of excess in what 
 is their daily fare. Nobody affects the character of liberality and 
 good-fellowship by being profuse of a liquor which is as cheap 
 as small-beer. On the contrary, in the countries which, whether 
 from excessive heat or cold, produce no grapes, and where wine, 
 consequently, is dear and a rarity, drunkenness is a common vice, 
 as among the northern nations and all those who live between the 
 tropics the negroes, for example, on the coast of Guinea. When 
 a French regiment comes from some of the northern provinces of 
 France, where wine is somewhat dear, to be quartered in the 
 southern, where it is very cheap, the soldiers, I have frequently 
 heard it observed, are at first debauched by the cheapness and 
 novelty of good wine ; but after a few months' residence the greater 
 part of them become as sober as the rest of the inhabitants. Were 
 the duties upon foreign wines and the excise upon malt, beer, and 
 ale to be taken away all at once, it might, in the same manner, 
 occasion in Great Britain a pretty general and temporary drunken- 
 ness among the middling and inferior ranks of the people, which 
 would probably be soon followed by a permanent and almost 
 universal sobriety.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 ' WITH the same energy,' once wrote Dr. Max 
 Schottelius, in the Deutsche Weinzeitung, 'with which 
 one fights against excessive drinking and its deplorable 
 consequences, must we fight, in turn, against the 
 exaggerated demands of the abstainers who would 
 abolish the use of alcoholic beverages altogether/ 
 
 That observation, I think, summarizes very succinctly 
 the first conclusion to which an impartial study of the 
 general problem here dealt with must lead. Nobody 
 wishes to encourage drunkenness, and I honestly be- 
 lieve that those who wish least to encourage it under 
 the licensing conditions of to-day are the very persons 
 engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages, by reason of 
 the extreme gravity of the risks they would run. But 
 is it not in accordance with reason that a distinction 
 should be drawn between abuse and use ? Granted, 
 without the slightest hesitation, that the beverages in 
 question should not be abused, does it follow that 
 therefore they should be entirely discarded ? There 
 are many people who eat to excess. A miner, who 
 was a member of the Bedlington Social Club, ate at a 
 single sitting five plates of pork, each with a quantity 
 of vegetables. Then he died, and at the inquest the 
 doctor said that death was due to syncope produced by 
 
 286
 
 MODERATION AND EXCESS 287 
 
 an overloaded stomach ; but the jury did not suggest 
 that because the man in question had thus abused 
 good food, therefore everyone else should be prohibited 
 from eating roast pork. 
 
 It is, in fact, essential to distinguish in all things 
 between moderation and excess, and that rule certainly 
 applies to alcoholic beverages. That they have their 
 use is quite as undeniable as the pernicious results 
 which may follow their abuse. Whatever decision the 
 experts may eventually arrive at on the disputed 
 question of food values, the fact remains that man- 
 kind has been taking alcoholic beverages for very many 
 generations far less as a ' food ' than because of their 
 stimulating effects and the enjoyment they afford ; and 
 at the end of 5,000 years of human experience on this 
 particular question, we still find that nothing has yet been 
 discovered which can adequately take their place in the 
 direct response they make to instinctive wants and re- 
 quirements. Many attempts have been made in this 
 direction, but ' temperance drinks ' fail to meet the 
 fundamental purpose answered by stimulating beverages, 
 while beer and wine should certainly be the healthier 
 and more nutritive of the two in view of the conditions 
 under which they are made and the materials of which 
 they are composed. It is true that affections of various 
 organs of the body follow from excess in the con- 
 sumption even of beer the mildest of all alcoholic 
 drinks. But the crux of the situation is found in 
 that word 'excess,' and it is significant that even the 
 discoverers of what is known in Germany as the ' beer- 
 heart ' Professors Bellinger, Bauer, and Striimpell 
 have expressed themselves as opposed to total absti- 
 nence, and in favour of a moderate consumption of 
 alcohol. 
 
 They evidently have done so the more willingly
 
 288 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 because they must recognize that instinctive craving 
 for a stimulant which is the greatest of all stumbling- 
 blocks in the way to the full realization of the pro- 
 hibitionist programme. To achieve their aim the 
 teetotallers should be in a world of ideal conditions. 
 What the world we actually live in is like is well shown 
 by Dr. P. Bauer in his ' Studies and Observations out 
 of the Life of a Naturalist,' where he says : 
 
 If beer and wine are withdrawn, people will intoxicate themselves 
 with ether and eau de Cologne ; they will use morphia, cocaine, 
 arsenic, camphor, or give themselves up to licentiousness. Such 
 things are not unknown to the Germans, and men who are slaves 
 to their passions have plenty of resources open to them. If I were 
 only to relate things that I have met with in the course of my varied 
 experience, I should have an interesting story to tell ! 
 
 One must assume, under all these conditions, that 
 this fundamental weakness of our common nature has 
 got to be recognized and allowed for, whether we wish 
 to do so or not ; and if, instead of trying to eradicate 
 the ineradicable, the ' reformers ' would seek to further 
 the practice of a true temperance otherwise 'modera- 
 tion in drinking ' instead of their ideal of compulsory 
 teetotalism, they would be much more likely to carry 
 the opinion of the country with them, and achieve a 
 higher degree of practical good. As it is, they seek 
 to realize unattainable ideas with the help of gross 
 exaggerations and unduly repressive legislation. 
 
 The main effect of their exaggerations is to discredit 
 a movement for which, if applied to ' temperance ' alone, 
 everyone would have abundant sympathy. They are 
 too ready to attribute all the ills that afflict mankind to 
 one common cause, which they describe as ' drink '; 
 they make assertions on the platform or in their school- 
 books which not to put the matter too bluntly are 
 inconsistent with physiological fact ; they confound 
 beer having from 3 to 5 per cent, of alcohol, or even
 
 THE TENDENCY TO EXAGGERATION 289 
 
 less, with spirits that may have from 30 to 60 per cent, 
 of alcohol ; they ignore the great changes which have 
 been brought about in the manufacture of beer during the 
 last few decades changes all in the direction of sup- 
 plying a lighter, more wholesome, and distinctly less 
 intoxicating product ; and they ignore equally the 
 changes which have taken place in our social habits, 
 so that the tendency towards moderation in drinking 
 which has already become the fashion in the upper 
 ranks of society is now descending to the lower, and 
 Great Britain, which at one time might truthfully 
 have been described as a drunken country, is steadily 
 becoming a sober one. Judging from the assertions 
 indulged in by the teetotal party generally, they look 
 upon the position to-day as still what it was when, at 
 least, the United Kingdom Alliance started operations 
 half a century ago. 
 
 The exaggerations in question are based mainly on 
 the fact that there is in the country an undefined number 
 of persons who are more or less hopeless victims to 
 the drinking habit, and who may be the cause of a 
 certain amount of crime and destitution. But the 
 evidence I have adduced shows that a large proportion 
 of these so-called victims are social failures, mentally 
 defectives, or morally deficients, who represent classes 
 of persons well deserving of our practical sympathy, 
 but calling for exceptional treatment, and not justifying 
 a complete readjustment of our social and economic 
 conditions in their special interests. Individuals of 
 these types are not to be cured of their weakness by 
 reducing the number of public-houses, or otherwise 
 lessening the 'facilities' for obtaining liquor; by the 
 action of Bishops, clergymen, and others in themselves 
 becoming abstainers ' for the sake of example '; or by 
 seeking to enforce compulsory abstinence on a nation 
 
 19
 
 290 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 composed mainly of persons who are in no way pre- 
 judiced by such quantity of alcoholic beverages as they 
 themselves may take. 
 
 So the next conclusion I arrive at is that the demand 
 for total suppression is uncalled for ; and it is the final 
 goal of total suppression that most of the reforms and 
 changes advocated by the teetotal party really have in 
 view. The demands actually advanced may not go beyond 
 Sunday closing, high licence, time limit, and so on ; 
 but what the teetotallers want in their heart of hearts 
 is to ' sweep away the traffic altogether.' It is for this 
 reason that prohibition has a broader significance than 
 it would have if considered solely from the point of view 
 of practical politics of to-day. Prohibition is neither 
 reasonable nor practicable. The assumption that total 
 abstinence is necessary to secure moderation is one that 
 is entirely false, and to curtail the relatively few luxuries 
 of the great masses of the people, because certain indi- 
 viduals drink to excess, while their social superiors can 
 drink as they please, would be in the highest degree 
 unjust. Mr. Gladstone once stated the position with 
 unanswerable logic when he said : 
 
 How can I, who drink good wine and bitter beer every day of 
 my life in a comfortable room and among friends, coolly stand up 
 and advise hard-wc rking fellow-creatures to take the pledge ? 
 
 Nor did a daily supply of good wine and bitter beer 
 have any apparent tendency to shorten Mr. Gladstone's 
 life, considering that he lived to attain his eighty-ninth 
 year. 
 
 It is not quite clear what ground the prohibitionists 
 have for seeking to enforce their views on the remainder 
 of mankind. In regard to their strength in the United 
 States, the Committee of Fifty say in a report presented 
 by them on the Physiological and Pathological Aspects 
 of the Drink Problem :
 
 TEETOTALLERS AND 'PUBLIC OPINION' 291 
 
 We have no trustworthy data as to the proportions of total 
 abstainers, occasional drinkers, regular moderate drinkers, and 
 positively intemperate persons in the United States. From such 
 information as we have, it seems to us probable that, of the adult 
 males in this country, not more than 20 per cent, are total abstainers, 
 and not more than 5 per cent, are positively intemperate in the 
 sense that they drink to such excess as to cause evident injury to 
 health. Of the remaining 75 per cent., the majority, probably 
 at least 25 per cent, of the whole, are occasional drinkers, while the 
 remaining 25 per cent, might, perhaps, be classed as regular 
 moderate drinkers. 
 
 In the United Kingdom the proportion of adult males 
 who are total abstainers is probably only half the total 
 claimed for the United States. Yet this small minority 
 claim the right to inspire laws which shall rigidly con- 
 trol the majority, ignoring the fundamental principle 
 of the local option movement which is that the 
 desires of the majority shall prevail. Even in this 
 minority, forming what may be called the teetotal 
 party, there are strongly marked divisions hopelessly 
 at variance among themselves, as, for instance, in the 
 matter of disinterested management, while British and 
 American teetotallers are still more at variance with 
 large sections of the temperance party in Continental 
 countries, the former adhering strictly to absolute total 
 abstinence, while the latter favour the recognition of 
 light beers as temperance drinks. Adding, therefore, 
 to their paucity in numbers these wide differences in 
 their own views, it will be seen what very little 
 right the teetotal party have to speak as though they 
 represented the opinion of the country. Public opinion 
 is much less likely to agree with all they say than to 
 resent the tone they adopt towards those who are 
 unable to concur in their views. 
 
 There is good reason, again, for the conclusion that 
 such attempts at compulsory teetotalism as have already 
 been made have been far from successful. Speaking at 
 
 19 2
 
 292 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 a meeting of the Peterborough Branch of the Church 
 of England Temperance Society, Dr. Magee, late Arch- 
 bishop of York, once said : 
 
 It was a very easy thing for one who had his leisure and large 
 house, and comforts all round about him, with varied amusements, 
 to say he felt no temptation to drink ; but if he would spend a 
 whole week in any close room, doing one small bit of a great and 
 mighty work, never changing it, and never exercising his mind, 
 exercising only his hands, when the afternoon of the Saturday came 
 he would be desperately inclined to go and have a glass of gin. He 
 did not think that until he had tried it the rich man had any right 
 to cry out against the intemperance of the working classes. In 
 attempting any legislative interference they must be careful that 
 they did not drive the people into some wretched alternative 
 between the public-house the only resort for refreshment and 
 amusement to many and no amusement at all. 
 
 Then the Rev. H. R. Gamble, Rector of Holy Trinity 
 Church, Sloane Square, said in a sermon he preached 
 on November 18, 1906 : 
 
 We are told it is the duty of all Christians to assist in the 
 total closing of public - houses on Sundays. That for men 
 to drink on Sundays is sinful appears to the Puritan mind an 
 axiom which it is not necessary to prove, and appeals to this 
 purpose are of very frequent occurrence. Clergymen are supposed 
 to echo their sentiments. For my own part 1 must respectfully 
 decline to do so. I entirely deny the justice of endeavouring 
 to deprive the working classes the great majority of whom are 
 sober and diligent people of a legitimate pleasure upon their one 
 holiday in the week. . . . The really temperate may be deprived 
 of a lawful indulgence ; but if there is not legal drinking there will 
 be illegal. Clubs will supplant taverns ; open indulgence will be 
 succeeded, as in some prohibition States of America, by an organ- 
 ized hypocrisy. 
 
 That drinking clubs are supplanting taverns, that a 
 great injustice is being done to the licensed traders, 
 that there is more drunkenness going on in these clubs 
 than is the case in the licensed houses, and that these 
 developments are the direct result of legislative and 
 magisterial interference alike with the public- houses 
 and the liberties of the people, are facts as to which no
 
 THE POLICY OF SUPPRESSION 293 
 
 reasonable doubt can be entertained. So one comes to 
 this further conclusion : that any fresh legislation which 
 is attempted should certainly deal with the club problem, 
 and that it is no use suppressing public-houses, where 
 a full control can be exercised, if they are to be suc- 
 ceeded by clubs, where, under present-day conditions, 
 little or no control can be exercised at all. 
 
 Apart from this question of clubs, it might be asked in 
 regard to the general policy of suppression, Can it really 
 be taken for granted that a reduction in the number of 
 licences in any particular town or neighbourhood neces- 
 sarily leads to a decrease in the amount of drinking ? Most 
 of the supporters of the reduction policy assume that 
 it does. On the other hand, the compensation principle 
 assumes that the trade from the houses suppressed goes 
 to those that remain, so that the latter are well able to 
 pay for the former. Both of these theories cannot be 
 right. The probability is that in the towns, at least, 
 reduction has little or no effect on consumption, since 
 the man who wants a drink will not go without it 
 merely because a particular house has been closed and 
 the next is a quarter of a mile away. An individual 
 who is not keen on getting drink, and who would there- 
 fore be likely to remain sober, might not care to walk 
 this quarter of a mile ; but the same argument would 
 certainly not apply to the average drunkard. 
 
 Reduction may more conceivably be of practical 
 advantage when carried out according to the plan 
 adopted in certain parts of Birmingham. By arrange- 
 ment there between some leading brewers and the 
 magistrates, the licences of an agreed number of houses 
 mostly beer-houses are surrendered within a par- 
 ticular area (compensation being duly given by the 
 holders of the remaining licences, as agreed among 
 themselves), and the magistrates allow one (generally
 
 294 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 fully-licensed) house to be reconstructed on such a scale 
 that it offers all the advantages of commodious and 
 well-arranged public rooms and club-rooms, and com- 
 pletely gets rid of the disadvantages associated with 
 houses of a small type, while it practically answers all 
 the real requirements of the area in question. It is 
 admitted by city missionaries and others that drunken- 
 ness is much less likely to be found in large than in 
 small houses, and, though no standard has yet been 
 laid down for the ideal public-house (licensing magis- 
 trates differing from one another, and even changing 
 their own ideas from one session to another), the 
 principle is a right one, and might be carried still 
 further but for the great difficulty often experienced 
 in inducing magistrates, especially in London, to allow 
 of any addition to the area of a house. Prohibitionists, 
 again, are strongly averse to the said policy, because, 
 they say, it has the effect of making the public-house 
 ' respectable '; and what they aim at is, not merely the 
 sobriety of the people, but the total suppression of what 
 they call ' the traffic.' 
 
 There are towns, again, where what is wanted is not 
 so much reduction as redistribution. Excess certainly 
 may exist there locally. Along a certain main thorough- 
 fare in Salford, for instance, I recently counted sixteen 
 licensed houses, mainly beer-houses, in a distance it took 
 me six minutes to walk. This was admitted to be a 
 case of redundancy for that particular neighbourhood, 
 and like conditions might be found in other towns. On 
 the other hand, it is probable that in the newer districts 
 which have grown up around these very towns there 
 are not sufficient public-houses to meet the reasonable 
 requirements of the local residents. Population has 
 shifted from the centre of the town to the outskirts, 
 but the public-houses have remained behind. To-day,
 
 REDISTRIBUTION OF LICENCES 295 
 
 because of the said migration of the people, there are 
 too many of them where they are. But it does not 
 necessarily follow that they are out of proportion to the 
 sum total of the community. 
 
 Might not this position be met by treating a licence 
 as an entity, which could be used in any part of the 
 country, as was found expedient ? In that case licences 
 would tend to follow population, and compensation 
 would either not be necessary at all or would not be 
 called for so often. 
 
 This movement of population is, indeed, a more 
 important factor in the case than the direct relation 
 between the total number of licensed houses and the 
 total number of people, inasmuch as a person who 
 works all day in a town or city, but lives in the suburbs 
 thereof, requires to have facilities for obtaining refresh- 
 ment in both places. The position is altogether different 
 from what it was in the days when most people lived 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the spot where they 
 worked. From this point of view mere statistics as to 
 licences and population may be altogether misleading, 
 while the real effect of the reductions already made in 
 such large numbers is seen to be even greater when 
 these dual requirements are borne in mind. 
 
 In any case one may fairly assume, I think, that, 
 under existing conditions, there is no need to resort 
 to further extreme measures to reduce the number of 
 public-houses so as to bring them well within the 
 requirements of the community that is to say, if such 
 reduction is to be an honest one, and not merely aimed 
 at sweeping away licensed houses altogether. 
 
 With regard to the time limit proposal, my view is 
 that it represents a scheme of delayed plunder, if regarded 
 from the point of view of securing ' full monopoly value ' 
 for the Treasury; but that, in effect, it is mainly a project
 
 296 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 for doing, not justice to the community, but a great 
 injustice to a trade, the direct suppression of which it 
 is considered inexpedient, if not futile, honestly to 
 propose. ' High licence ' is merely another indirect 
 attack, aimed at further undermining the licensed 
 citadel with a view to its final overthrow. 
 
 My conclusion in regard to the trade as a trade is 
 that it is a perfectly lawful one ; that it responds to 
 a want which has been experienced by men since the 
 very earliest days of which we have any record ; that 
 this trade had better be carried on openly, under con- 
 ditions permitting of police control and magisterial 
 supervision, than allowed to descend into private resorts 
 or secret drinking ; that successive rulers, Governments, 
 and authorities have recognized this fact throughout 
 the centuries ; that in honourable and well-established 
 practice licences have been renewed from year to year 
 where no question as to misconduct has arisen ; that, 
 based upon this custom, large sums of money have 
 been invested in the business, with the knowledge and 
 approval, and sometimes at the direct instigation, of 
 licensing magistrates, under the expectation that the 
 said custom would be maintained ; that it would be 
 a cruel wrong if the Government were now virtually 
 to confiscate this money on the ground that a mistake 
 had been made when the licences were originally 
 granted perhaps several generations ago ; that around 
 this one trade a large number of others have grown up, 
 dependent either entirely or in part on its prosperity 
 for their own ; that, altogether apart from the sum 
 total of the capital involved, several millions of workers 
 must be engaged in the main or subsidiary industries ; 
 that it would be a great injustice if, having approved 
 and licensed the sale of alcoholic beverages for so long, 
 the country were now to change its mind, and bring
 
 TRADE CONDITIONS 297 
 
 ruin to all these people; and that any problematical 
 good which suppression, or even further undue inter- 
 ference with the trade, might effect would be far surpassed 
 by the magnitude of the social or economic harm, direct 
 or indirect, that would be done in other ways. 
 
 There are those who, while agreeing generally with 
 these views, would still maintain that the conditions 
 under which the public-houses are conducted are not 
 desirable, especially as regards tied and managed houses. 
 In effect, however, these conditions, like the clubs of 
 which so much is heard, are mainly due to the action 
 of Governments and magistrates, on the one hand, and 
 the hostility of the teetotal party on the other hand. 
 
 Private traders withdrew so largely because they were 
 not prepared to run the, apparently, grave and increasing 
 risk of losing their money in a business which had so 
 many active and influential enemies. They sold out 
 readily enough to brewery companies willing to run the 
 risk ; but it is difficult to see how any Act of Parliament 
 could now lead those private traders to invest their 
 money over again in a form of trading which, under 
 present-day conditions, seems to have greater uncer- 
 tainties than ever. 
 
 But has the change of ownership thus effected really 
 brought about any such undesirable results as the 
 teetotal critics would have the public believe ? My 
 conclusion on this point is that it has not, and my 
 reasons for that conclusion are set forth in detail in the 
 chapters on ' Tied' and ' Managed ' Houses respectively. 
 I might, however, here so far enlarge on the point as to 
 introduce the following note from a member of a well- 
 known brewery firm in the Midlands whose views I 
 solicited : 
 
 I have known Birmingham intimately during a period extending 
 over fifty-five years. As a type of what the ' tied ' licensing trade has
 
 298 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 done, this city affords a striking illustration. At the commencement 
 of the time mentioned there was scarcely a ' tied ' house in the town ; 
 nearly every licensee brewed his own malt liquors. At that period 
 90 per cent, of the working men got drunk on Saturday night ; 
 drunkenness was common all the week through, and there was no 
 interference with a drunken man by the police unless he became 
 violent. With the imperfect system of brewing in the public-houses, 
 the insanitary condition of the brew-houses, and the unsuitable 
 appliances, the beers brewed were mostly of inferior quality and 
 more alcoholic than is the case now, strong ales being specially 
 demanded by the customers. Since the brewers have had more 
 control over the houses, beers have undergone a great improve- 
 ment, for with the aid of scientific knowledge, hygienic breweries, 
 and suitable appliances, they have succeeded in producing beers 
 containing 25 per cent, less of alcohol than the beers formerly 
 retailed in Birmingham public-houses. Those now produced are 
 more wholesome, less intoxicating, lighter in character, more 
 palatable, more nutritious, of brighter and better condition, and 
 more suitable for general consumption. Such beers have gradually 
 won the public taste, and are produced and sold at a much lower 
 cost than the heavy and intoxicating ales of the past. 
 
 In face of evidence such as this, it is difficult to 
 see how the interests of the public can have suffered 
 from the ' tied ' house system. They have suffered 
 still less under the ' managed ' house system. The 
 ordinary licensee of a public-house is a man of good 
 character who, as a rule, has been educated to the 
 business. He is the man appointed, so to speak, by 
 the State to control the sale of drinks, and, as a 
 preserver of peace and order, he need only be in a 
 uniform, with his number on his collar, to occupy a 
 position practically similar to that of a policeman. 
 But these conditions are greatly accentuated when such 
 a licensee is himself under the watchful control of a 
 supervisory organization specially appointed to ensure 
 a perfection of good management and a scrupulous 
 regard for the law, in the interests of a company which 
 may have invested a substantial sum of money in the 
 business the said manager conducts. All this is 
 clearly in the interests of the public, and the adverse
 
 EXPERTS VERSUS AMATEURS 299 
 
 criticism passed upon the system is merely another 
 of those almost endless attempts made to discredit 
 the trade still further, and to weaken its position, so 
 that the final ' suppression ' desired may be brought 
 about with the greater ease. 
 
 I am further of opinion, from a personal visit to 
 many ' managed ' houses, that they offer most of the 
 advantages claimed for the alleged ' disinterested 
 management ' system, without those serious disadvan- 
 tages which must inevitably arise when the manage- 
 ment passes from the hands of experts and business 
 men to those of amateurs and philanthropists. The 
 impracticable ideas which individuals of the latter type 
 may have on the whole subject of the licensed trade 
 are well illustrated by some observations reported by 
 the Bristol Daily Mercury to have been made by the 
 Dean of Hereford at a noisy meeting held at Bristol 
 on February 5, 1907, on the subject of Sunday closing. 
 The Dean said ' he could not understand the opposition, 
 because if the butchers and the bakers and barbers and 
 many others were obliged to shut up their places on 
 Sunday, he did not see what reason there was that the 
 publican should not do the same.' These remarks 
 suggest that, in the view of the Dean, because a 
 working man can buy a joint of meat, or a loaf of 
 bread, on the Saturday, with the certainty of finding 
 it still fresh on the Sunday, therefore he might just 
 as well get a jug of ale on the Saturday in readiness 
 for dinner-time the next day. It would also seem that 
 the Dean regards a public-house in the light merely 
 of a shop, where liquor can be purchased in the same 
 way as bread can be bought at a baker's or meat at 
 a butcher's. This view leaves entirely out of sight one 
 essential factor in the situation the social element 
 in the licensed trade. A large proportion of the
 
 300 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 customers in a public-house go there, not merely to gulp 
 down or buy so much liquor and then depart, but to 
 have either rest or social intercourse as well. A man 
 does not expect to meet acquaintances in the shop of 
 the baker or the butcher, and to find seats provided 
 for them there, so that they can spend the evening 
 together in the shop in discussing the events of the 
 day. He is, also, quite prepared to leave the barber's 
 as soon as he has been shaved. But, from his point 
 of view, it may be, a public-house should serve the 
 same purpose that a club would (say) to a Dean. 
 Fellowship, a smoke, and a genial chat may be as 
 much the reason for the visit to the public-house as 
 the desire" for a glass of beer. A man's social instinct 
 wants to be satisfied as well as his thirst ; and it is 
 just because law-makers and law-administrators, 
 reformers and philanthropists, are apt completely to 
 ignore this social instinct that they are making such 
 deplorable errors in their attempted solutions of what 
 they are pleased to call ' the licensing problem,' and 
 driving men more and more into drinking clubs, where 
 their sense of freedom and their social feelings are alike 
 under no restraint. 
 
 I am thus bound to conclude that 'disinterested 
 management ' in the hands of amateurs and philan- 
 thropists would be a hopeless failure, and that, what- 
 ever be the future of the licensed trade, it must still 
 be conducted on business lines under effective control. 
 Nor do I see any real reason for further active inter- 
 ference on the part of the Government, except with 
 regard to those clubs which are simply drinking dens. 
 There has been a steady fall in the consumption of 
 alcoholic beverages ; there is already a substantial 
 decrease proceeding in the number of licensed houses ; 
 the public-house owners are compensating one another
 
 'LEAVE WELL ALONE' 301 
 
 without making any demand on the public purse ; a 
 trade that is already contributing 38,000,000 a year 
 to the nation's finance is, surely, paying as much as 
 can reasonably be asked of it ; any increase of drunken- 
 ness is due less to the public-houses than to their rivals, 
 the drinking clubs ; while much more is to be hoped 
 for (in the interests of that sobriety which constitutes 
 the real ' temperance ') from increased education, 
 improved culture, better housing, social improvement 
 and higher public sentiment, than from coercive absti- 
 nence, even when backed up by a legalized confiscation. 
 
 Coercive abstinence has been a failure all the world 
 over, and the very violence and unreasonableness with 
 which it is still urged can only lead eventually, when 
 the whole facts of the case are thoroughly realized, to 
 a revolt in the public mind which may discredit and 
 hamper even what is good and praiseworthy in the 
 cause of temperance, as against teetotalism. As for 
 legalized confiscation, the country may well be reminded 
 of Lord Rosebery's pronouncement in his speech in 
 the Whitehall Rooms to the members of the Liberal 
 League on March 26, 1907, when, in referring to Sir 
 Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Government, he warned 
 the Liberal party that ' it might find itself, or some 
 of its members, permanently connected with hostility 
 to property in all its forms,' and spoke of the ' predatory 
 elements in politics,' to which Socialism and also, he 
 might have added, so-called temperance reformers 
 could specially appeal. 
 
 To sum up, I would say : 
 
 i. That, operating on lines consistent alike with 
 reason, with common-sense, and with human nature, 
 any real ' temperance ' movement, which aims at keep- 
 ing people ' temperate,' deserves the hearty support of 
 every section of the community, and will answer all the
 
 302 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 reasonable requirements that can be sought in the 
 interests of society ; but that, on the other hand, 
 teetotal extremists, whose views and assertions too often 
 cross the border-line which should separate reason from 
 fanaticism, have wrongly applied the word ' temperance' 
 to various schemes for the enforcement of a more or 
 less compulsory general total abstinence, not called for 
 by the actualities of the situation, and altogether beyond 
 the reach of practical attainment. 
 
 2. That the evils of ' drink ' admittedly great, even 
 allowing for much exaggeration by the said extremists 
 are due mostly to persons of feeble minds or weak 
 bodies (morally deficients, mentally defectives, or those 
 otherwise of an abnormal type), to whom, as such, total 
 abstinence may certainly be commended; though one 
 cannot reasonably demand that society as a whole 
 should be remodelled to meet their special conditions 
 and requirements. 
 
 3. That, while further legislation in regard to drunken- 
 ness and drunkards may well be applied to the classes 
 directly concerned, unfair and unnecessary restrictions 
 should not be imposed on the rights, liberties, and 
 reasonable enjoyment of persons who can use stimu- 
 lants without either abusing or being prejudiced by 
 them. 
 
 4. That, notwithstanding the difference of views 
 among medical authorities on the subject of alcohol, it 
 has not yet been established that a moderate use of 
 alcoholic beverages is injurious to the human system, 
 however pernicious individually may be an excessive 
 indulgence therein ; that successive generations of man- 
 kind in all parts of the world have found pleasure and, 
 presumably, benefit in their use ; and that, so far from 
 such beverages having checked national advancement, 
 the nations which have been the heaviest drinkers have
 
 SUMMING-UP 303 
 
 been the most progressive, while the most temperate 
 have been the most backward. 
 
 5. That, whatever objections the teetotal party may 
 raise to the ordinary alcoholic beverages, they have not 
 yet invented any drinks which, suitable for all occa- 
 sions, can adequately take their place ; and that many 
 of their own beverages not only themselves contain 
 alcohol, but are much more open to criticism than 
 ' honest English beer ' at least. 
 
 6. That sufficient count is not taken by the teetotal 
 party of the improvements in brewing and the reduction 
 in the alcoholic strength of beer during the last quarter 
 of a century ; and that they are much too prone to bring 
 beer, with its present low percentage of alcohol, under 
 the same condemnation as spirits in their sweeping 
 references to ' drink ' in general. 
 
 7. That the trade in alcoholic beverages responds to 
 an instinctive desire for an occasional stimulant which 
 is natural to man, has characterized him since the 
 earliest dawn of history, and, like other instincts, calls 
 for prudent control rather than for actual extinction ; 
 that the said trade is consistent with reason and policy, 
 since it allows of this prudent control being exercised 
 over the sale of intoxicants ; that it is a legal trade, 
 since the State has countenanced it for many genera- 
 tions ; that confidence in the integrity of the State has 
 led many people to invest, in the aggregate, vast sums 
 of money in the trade ; that, besides the large numbers 
 of persons directly concerned, as investors or workers, 
 many allied trades and interests would be affected by 
 serious prejudice to its stability, so that any saving in 
 expenditure on the part of particular sections of the 
 community, through the total suppression of the trade, 
 would have the gravest consequences for other sections ; 
 that, instead of incessantly harassing a trade which
 
 304 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 meets a distinct public want, and cannot be wholly 
 extinguished (as the failure of prohibition, wherever 
 tried, clearly proves), it would be much more sensible to 
 recognize the need for its continued existence, and to 
 subject it to no more than the present efficient control 
 and supervision, the latter conditions being more espe- 
 cially met under the ' managed house ' system. 
 
 8. That the attempts already made to impose further 
 restrictions on the trade, and to interfere still more 
 with the liberty of its former patrons, have led to a 
 great increase in both the number and the membership 
 of clubs, where drinking can go on unchecked, and 
 where an amount of drunkenness arises far in excess of 
 what originates in the licensed public-houses. 
 
 9. That the proposed time limit represents delayed 
 confiscation ; that increased taxation would be unjust 
 (as applied to a trade which already contributes so 
 largely to the national and local exchequers), and is, in 
 effect, mainly advocated as an indirect means of further 
 injuring the traders ; that, under the compensation 
 clauses of the Act of 1904, any redundancy in the 
 number of licensed houses is steadily disappearing ; 
 that, except for the drunkenness due to the increasing 
 number of clubs, the people of the country are becoming 
 more and more sober in their daily habits ; that in these 
 circumstances the Act of 1904 might well be allowed to 
 have a reasonable chance of showing what it can do ; 
 and that, finally, there is no just cause for further 
 attempts at harassing, and ill-advised, if not, also, 
 confiscatory, licensing legislation.
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 A TYPICAL FORM OF AGREEMENT WITH 
 A TENANT 
 
 THE following is a form of agreement with tenants 
 adopted by leading brewery companies or firms in the 
 principal licensing districts of Lancashire and Cheshire 
 after consultation with the licensing magistrates there : 
 
 THIS INDENTURE made the day of 
 
 One thousand nine hundred BETWEEN 
 
 being the Agent of and the said 
 
 Agent and also the said Company their successors and assigns as 
 the nature of the context may require (to the intent that the 
 covenants and powers hereinafter contained shall enure to and for 
 the benefit of the said Company their successors and assigns) are 
 hereinafter included in the expression ' the Landlords ' of the one 
 part and of hereinafter 
 
 called the Tenant of the other part WITNESSETH that in considera- 
 tion of the rent and covenants hereinafter contained the Landlords 
 let to the tenant who takes ALL that messuage or tenement and 
 licensed house known as the 
 
 situate TOGETHER with the use of the licences 
 
 fixtures and fittings thereunto belonging and the Landlords' trade 
 utensils now in use there To HOLD unto the Tenant from the 
 
 day of one thousand nine hundred 
 
 for and so on from to at the 
 
 annual rent of payable such 
 
 rent to be paid in advance if required AND the Tenant COVENANTS 
 with the Landlords that he the Tenant will pay the rent on the 
 due dates clear of all deductions whatsoever (Landlords' property 
 tax alone excepted) and also all rates taxes and 
 
 assessments whatsoever ALSO that he the Tenant will pay all 
 
 305 20
 
 306 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 moneys necessary for keeping the licence in full force and will 
 apply from time to time for and use best endeavours to 
 
 obtain a renewal or new grant of the licence and will not do or 
 permit to be done anything whereby he may or shall forfeit or 
 run risk of forfeiting or imperilling the licence or be likely to cause 
 any objection to be taken to a renewal or new grant of the licence 
 or shall be disqualified to hold any such licence or shall be con- 
 victed of any offence against the licensing laws or any other statute 
 affecting Licensed Victuallers or Beersellers AND also will keep 
 and cause to be kept good hours and order in the said premises 
 AND will personally reside on the said premises and keep the 
 licence in own name and use best endeavours to pre- 
 
 serve the standing and character of the house AND also will 
 within twelve hours after any complaint summons arrest alleged 
 misconduct or irregularity or official or other notice affecting the 
 conduct of the house or the licence report the same at the Land- 
 lords' head office in Liverpool with t full particulars AND will 
 take exclusively from and deal exclusively with the Landlords or 
 their nominee or nominees for all the Ales Porters Wines Spirits 
 and Cordials vended or consumed in or from the said premises 
 and will not purchase or permit to be received taken or brought on 
 to the premises on any pretext whatever any Ales Porters Wines 
 Spirits or cordials other than supplied by the Landlords or their 
 nominee or nominees AND will keep the whole of the said 
 premises (except the roof and main walls and the outside paint 
 work) and the trade fittings and fixtures and utensils therein in 
 good and substantial order and repair AND will once every three 
 years during occupancy paint with two coats of the best oil paint 
 and also decorate grain and varnish all such portions of the inside 
 of the said premises as are usually painted decorated grained and 
 varnished respectively and will paper colour and whitewash all 
 parts usually papered coloured or 'whitewashed AND will cleanse 
 and keep in good order and substantial repair all gutters spouts 
 and drains AND at the end or sooner determination of this demise 
 will leave the whole in the same good and substantial order and 
 repair painted decorated grained and varnished papered coloured 
 and whitewashed and cleansed as aforesaid (reasonable wear and 
 tear and damage by fire storm and tempest or inevitable accident 
 only excepted) AND will not make any alteration in or addition 
 to the premises without the consent of the landlords in writing and 
 (if any such alteration affect the business portion of the premises) 
 the consent also of the Licensing Justices AND will make any
 
 APPENDIX A 307 
 
 alteration in or addition to the said premises not being in the 
 nature of a structural alteration which shall at any time be required 
 by the Licensing Justices upon plans approved by the Justices and 
 the Tenant shall bear and pay the cost of the preparation and 
 approval by the Justices of such plans AND will keep open the 
 said premises for business at all lawful hours and not close or shut 
 up the said premises either temporarily or otherwise except at such 
 times as by law such licensed houses are required to be closed 
 AND will not assign underlet or part with or deliver possession of 
 the said premises or any part thereof to any person or persons 
 whomsoever AND WILL AT THE END or sooner determination of 
 this demise peaceably and quietly give up to the Landlords or their 
 nominee possession of the said premises and on quitting the said 
 premises or the landlords becoming entitled to take possession will 
 forthwith assign and transfer the licences belonging to the said 
 house to the landlords or their nominee and sign all transfers and 
 papers and consent and do all acts and matters to give effect thereto 
 on a proportionate part of the licence duty for the unexpired term 
 therein being paid to the Tenant (but in the event of the Tenant's 
 refusal or neglect to do so the Landlords by the Secretary or any 
 Director or Officer of the Landlords are hereby empowered to sign 
 the said Notices in the Landlords' name as the authorized agent 
 of the Tenant) AND will sign a withdrawal of the Excise Entry 
 and attend before the Justices both at Petty Session and at the 
 Special Sessions for transferring Licences and duly apply for the 
 transfer as aforesaid at the Tenant's own cost other than reason- 
 able travelling expenses AND IT is FURTHER AGREED that this 
 demise may be determined by either party giving to the other 
 
 months' previous notice in writing from any date of 
 or their intention so to do any law or usage to the contrary not- 
 withstanding PROVIDED ALWAYS AND IT is HEREBY AGREED 
 AND DECLARED that it shall be lawful for the landlords or any 
 person or persons appointed under the hand of their Secretary at 
 any time or times and all lawful hours to enter upon and inspect 
 the premises and every part thereof for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the repair and condition thereof and also how the business is being 
 carried on and to examine the stock and take samples thereof 
 PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS AND IT is HEREBY AGREED that in 
 case any rent shall be in arrear for fourteen days whether demanded 
 or not or if the Tenant shall do anything with reference to the 
 conduct of the house which may in any way endanger or imperil 
 the licence or be likely to cause any objection to be taken to a 
 
 2O 2
 
 308 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 renewal or new grant of the same or shall become bankrupt or have 
 a receiving order made against or shall die or shall in any 
 
 respect fail in the due and complete performance and observance 
 of all and each of the covenants and stipulations herein on 
 part contained then and thereupon or at any time thereafter and 
 notwithstanding any intermediate receipt of rent negotiation or 
 other condonation it shall be lawful for the landlords to put an end 
 to and determine this demise and to enter upon resume or take 
 possession of the said house and premises as if this demise had 
 not been made AND IT is FURTHER AGREED that if the premises 
 shall be burnt down or otherwise damaged from any cause whatso- 
 ever (except by the wilful act or default of the said Tenant or 
 servants) whereby they shall not be fit for use or occupation then 
 the Landlords shall thereupon abate a proportionate part of the 
 rent for the time the same shall be unfit for use or occupation OR 
 the tenancy may thereupon be at an end at the option of Landlords 
 IN WITNESS whereof the parties have hereunto set their hands 
 and seals the day and year first before written. 
 
 B. TYPICAL FORM OF AGREEMENT WITH 
 A MANAGER 
 
 The following is the form of agreement usually 
 entered into between brewery companies in the Liver- 
 pool district and the managers of public-houses owned 
 by them : 
 
 THIS AGREEMENT made the day of 
 
 one thousand nine hundred and 
 between 
 
 (hereinafter called the owners) of the one part and 
 (hereinafter called the manager of the other part), as follows : 
 
 1. The manager will, on the basis of the rules hereto annexed, 
 from the date hereof become the representative of the owners to 
 keep and manage for them their licensed public-house, with the 
 fixtures, fittings, and utensils therein, situate No. 
 
 and will hold for them the licences and any renewal thereof, and 
 will reside in the residential portion of the premises. 
 
 2. The owners will pay the manager the sum of 
 per week as wages.
 
 APPENDIX B 309 
 
 3. The business of the house shall be conducted in all respects 
 in accordance with the law and the rules hereto annexed. 
 
 4. The manager shall keep correctly proper books of account 
 (which shall be provided by and be the property of the Owners) in 
 the mode to be prescribed by the Owners, and such books shall 
 remain at the said licensed house, and shall not be removed there- 
 from by the manager upon any pretence whatever, and shall at all 
 times be open to the inspection of the owners and any person 
 whom they may appoint for that purpose. 
 
 5. The manager will pay to the owner or his agents the 
 takings, less trade disbursements, weekly. 
 
 6. The manager will, whenever required by the owners, deliver 
 up to them or their nominee, and do all necessary acts for trans- 
 ferring to them or him the then existing magistrates' grant and 
 excise licences. And will also sign any notices and make any 
 applications for obtaining a protection order or the transfer or 
 renewal of the licences or withdrawal of entry with the excise 
 which the owners may require. And will attend before the 
 justices in person and consent to any such transfer or renewal. 
 
 7. It shall be lawful for the owners or any person appointed by 
 them in that behalf, and they or he are or is hereby irrevocably 
 empowered to apply for and sign, give and do as the agents or 
 agent of the manager all notices and acts necessary for obtaining 
 such protection order, transfer or renewal or withdrawal of entry 
 as the case may be. 
 
 8. On the determination of his engagement the manager shall 
 make and give to the owners a final account of the transactions 
 and shall pay over any balance then due from him, and make no 
 claim for improvement of the business during his management. 
 
 9. If the manager shall at any time after being required by the 
 owners, as provided in the sixth clause of these presents, neglect or 
 refuse to peaceably yield and give up quiet possession of the said 
 licensed house and premises, books, fixtures, fittings, utensils, and 
 stock as aforesaid, or any of them, or any part thereof, it shall be 
 lawful for the owners or their agents or servants to enter into and 
 upon the said premises, or any part thereof, and to eject therefrom 
 the said manager or his family, and to remove his furniture and 
 effects, and take possession at any time of the day or night. 
 
 10. Either party may determine this agreement by giving to the 
 other one week's notice, or paying one week's wages in lieu thereof. 
 
 As WITNESS the hands of the parties the day and the year first 
 before written.
 
 310 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 RULES FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW AND 
 GOOD ORDER ON ALL THE LICENSED PREMISES 
 BELONGING TO 
 
 1. No credit shall be given to any person under any pretence 
 whatever. 
 
 2. No wages shall be paid on the premises except to those 
 employed in the house. 
 
 3. No person on duty shall treat or be treated by a customer or 
 other person. 
 
 4. No smoking allowed while on duty. 
 
 5. No money, watch, parcel, or other thing shall be taken in 
 charge from any customer or other person. 
 
 6. No foreign money shall be exchanged, nor any banknotes, 
 unless the parties are well known to be responsible and respectable 
 householders. 
 
 7. No army certificate, advance note, sailor's monthly money 
 note, pawnbroker's duplicate ticket, or any other document, 
 article, or thing shall be received, purchased, or taken as security 
 from a customer or other person. 
 
 8. No raffle shall be allowed to take place, nor shall gaming of 
 any kind be permitted. 
 
 9. No person shall be supplied who is disorderly or apparently 
 under the influence of drink,, or (if for consumption on the 
 premises) who is under sixteen years of age. 
 
 10. No young person shall be supplied with liquor for consump- 
 tion off the premises who is under fourteen years of age, except in 
 corked and sealed bottles of not less than one reputed pint. 
 
 The expression ' sealed ' means secured with any substance 
 without the destruction of which the cork, plug, or stopper cannot 
 be withdrawn. 
 
 11. No police officer shall be served or harboured while on duty, 
 and any complaint against the police to be reported at once to the 
 outdoor manager. 
 
 12. Should a police officer or other person at any time point out 
 any matter in the course of business as being in his opinion an 
 infringement of the law, whether he intend to report the same 
 to the authorities or not, the manager or his assistant shall forth- 
 with procure the names and addresses of any witnesses who may 
 be present. 
 
 13. Should any person be charged with being intoxicated on 
 the premises, the manager or his assistant must endeavour to at
 
 APPENDIX C 311 
 
 once procure the opinion of a doctor as to the said person's 
 condition. 
 
 14. No persons except those employed in the house shall be 
 allowed to remain on the premises during closed hours. 
 
 15. Should any police officers or constables in the execution of 
 their duty demand admittance during closed hours, it is the duty 
 of the licensee, or those in charge, to immediately admit them, and 
 give every facility to examine the premises. 
 
 16. A full and true account of each day's takings and also a 
 faithful account of all stock sold in, out of, or upon the premises 
 shall be kept and rendered by the manager, and no false entry 
 shall be made in any such account or in the day-book. 
 
 17. The manager is responsible for the house being in every 
 respect well conducted, and shall report at once any irregularity or 
 any misconduct of the men under his charge. 
 
 1 8. The house shall be opened at 6 a.m., and close punctually at 
 ii p.m. ; but on Sundays, Good Friday, and Christmas Day the 
 hours are 12.30 to 2.30 and 6 to 10. 
 
 19. Penalty for the breach of any of the above rules dismissal. 
 
 C. FURTHER RULES FOR ' MANAGED ' 
 HOUSES 
 
 THE following is printed on the back of the weekly cash 
 return-sheet of a leading brewery firm in the Midlands, 
 for the guidance of their managers : 
 
 RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 You must distinctly understand that the house belongs to 
 
 , and that you are here subject to your conduct being honest, 
 steady, and obliging to your customers, and attentive to your 
 duties. 
 
 Your Employers reserve to themselves the right to give you any 
 notice whatever of their intention to dispense with your services, 
 should they consider that you are either unsuitable for your duties, 
 or that you are not complying with these Rules. 
 
 THE COMPANY DO NOT PERMIT CREDIT BEING 
 GIVEN TO ANYONE.
 
 3i2 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 Upon no account to allow drunken persons to remain on the 
 premises, and not to sell or supply them with anything whatso- 
 ever. In the event of being deceived, return the money and 
 request the person to leave the premises at once. 
 
 If the Police should make any charge of drunkenness, and there 
 be any doubt as to the condition of the person so charged, the 
 Manager or Barman will detain the person ; call the attention of 
 the customers present to the person's condition, and ascertain their 
 names and addresses. Notice the time and ask the customers to 
 note any conversation that passes on the subject ; and as early as 
 convenient take the person to the nearest Doctor, and again 
 note the time, which is very important. Report the circumstances 
 immediately at the Company's Head Office. 
 
 Upon no pretext to serve a Policeman in uniform, unless 
 you are of opinion or have reasonable proof that he is off duty. 
 
 Betting or Gambling in any form is not to be permitted. 
 
 NEITHER MANAGERS NOR BARMEN ARE TO Smoke 
 IN THE BAR OR BAR PARLOURS. 
 
 KNOWN PROSTITUTES are not to be encouraged to fre- 
 quent the house, and on no account to allow them to come and go, 
 without their intention is to get refreshments, in which case they 
 must not remain longer than is reasonable for consuming those 
 refreshments. 
 
 MUSIC, DANCING, SINGING, except where licensed, and 
 BAD LANGUAGE are to be strictly forbidden. 
 
 NEITHER MANAGERS nor BARMEN are to be out except 
 by permission of the Superintendent. 
 
 Managers or Barmen are not to receive any money or valuables 
 for safe keeping. 
 
 In case of fire or serious accident SEND AT ONCE to the 
 Company's Head Office. 
 
 Accidents to plate-glass to be reported on the same day, with 
 full particulars of the occurrence. 
 
 IMPORTANT. 
 
 The hour of closing is to be rigidly observed, and all customers 
 and friends off the premises. 
 
 No presents of any kind, under any circumstances, are to be 
 given away. 
 
 No Bank Cheques or Notes, other than Bank of England Notes 
 are to be cashed.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 313 
 
 No information connected with the Business is to be given to 
 any person outside the Company, either verbally or in writing, but 
 enquirers referred to Brewery. 
 
 The cash takings to be counted (coppers as well) at the times 
 named on this Sheet, and entered at once in ink, and it is hoped 
 that Managers will not plead any excuse for not doing so. 
 
 You are required to complete this Sheet, and post it to the 
 Brewery, every Monday, together with all vouchers for payments, 
 the balance of cash being retained until next day, that is Tuesday, 
 when it should be banked to our credit by 10 o'clock a.m. at such 
 bank as we direct. 
 
 All orders for Repairs, Advertisements, Glasses, Coal, and 
 Utensils must be given through the Head Office. 
 
 D. ALLIED TRADES AND INTERESTS 
 
 ON pp. 276-277 some typical examples have been given 
 of allied trades and interests which would themselves be 
 affected, more or less, by either the closing of breweries 
 or any serious interference with the licensed trade. 
 The following much fuller list shows still more clearly 
 the widespread extent of the industrial and commercial 
 ramifications that might be involved were the ' suppres- 
 sion of the liquor traffic ' really brought about : 
 
 Accountants. 
 
 Accumulator makers. 
 
 Advertisement agents and con- 
 tractors. 
 
 Agents Land and estate. 
 
 Anvil makers. 
 
 Architects, Brewers'. 
 
 Art-metal workers. 
 
 Artesian well borers. 
 
 boring tool- 
 makers. 
 engineers. 
 
 Artificial stone manufacturers. 
 
 Artists' colourmen and material 
 dealers. 
 
 Artists in stained glass and 
 glass painters. 
 
 Asbestos manufacturers. 
 merchants. 
 ,, millboard makers. 
 
 Asbestos - packed cock manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Asphalt manufacturers. 
 
 Auctioneers. 
 
 Back and vat makers. 
 
 Bankers.
 
 314 
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 Bag makers. 
 Band-saw makers. 
 Barge owners and makers. 
 Banner manufacturers. 
 Barley growers. 
 
 merchants. 
 Barometer and thermometer 
 
 makers. 
 
 Barrel-hoist makers. 
 Basket makers. 
 Bass and fibre dressers. 
 
 broom makers. 
 Bath makers. 
 Bath brick merchants. 
 Beer bottlers. 
 bottling machinists. 
 can makers. 
 engine makers. 
 finings manufacturers. 
 retailers. 
 
 Belt-driving manufacturers. 
 Belting manufacturers. 
 syrup makers. 
 Bent timber manufacturers. 
 wood furniture manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Benzine and benzole distillers. 
 Bill-posters. 
 Billiard and bagatelle table 
 
 makers. 
 
 ball makers. 
 ,. cue makers. 
 .cushion makers. 
 gaslight makers. 
 light shade makers. 
 room furnishers. 
 table-cloth makers. 
 ., table requisite manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 table slate bed manu- 
 facturers. 
 Birch and heath broom makers. 
 
 Blacklead importers and manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Blacksmiths. 
 
 Blow and blazing lamp manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Blowing and exhaust fan manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Boiler makers. 
 cleaners. 
 fluid manufacturers. 
 inspecting companies. 
 non-conducting composi- 
 tion makers. 
 plate makers. 
 setters. 
 tube makers. 
 tube brush manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Bolt and nut manufacturers. 
 
 Boring tool makers, Artesian. 
 
 Bottle makers. 
 
 Bottling machine manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Box manufacturers. 
 
 Brass and copper wire manu- 
 facturers. 
 ,, finishers. 
 founders. 
 
 and gun -metal casters. 
 manufacturers. 
 plate makers. 
 tube makers. 
 turners. 
 
 Brewers' chemists. 
 
 supplies merchants 
 
 valuers. 
 
 varnish makers. 
 
 Brick makers. 
 and tile merchants. 
 machine makers. 
 mould makers. 
 
 Bricklayers.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 315 
 
 Bricklayers' labourers. 
 
 Brush ferrule makers. 
 makers. 
 
 for machinery. 
 
 ,, pitch manufac- 
 
 turers. 
 
 Bucket and tinware makers. 
 
 Builders. 
 
 Builders' merchants. 
 
 Building material dealers. 
 
 Cabinet makers. 
 
 Camel-hair pencil makers. 
 
 Canvas manufacturers and mer- 
 chants. 
 
 Capsule manufacturers. 
 
 Caramel manufacturers. 
 
 Carbolic acid manufacturers. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas makers. 
 
 Carmen. 
 
 Carpenters. 
 
 Carpenters' labourers. 
 
 Carvers and gilders. 
 
 Casement fastening manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Cask makers. 
 and vat support makers. 
 
 Cellar fittings manufacturers. 
 
 Cement makers. 
 merchants. 
 
 Chain makers. 
 
 Chair and sofa makers. 
 
 Chimneypiece manufacturers. 
 
 Chimney-pot makers. 
 
 shaft climbers and re- 
 pairers. 
 sweepers. 
 
 China, glass, and earthenware 
 manufacturers, and wholesale 
 glass dealers. 
 
 China, glass, and earthenware 
 dealers. 
 
 Coal merchants. 
 
 Coal owners. 
 
 and ashes handling ma- 
 chinery makers. 
 
 Cold-storage engineers. 
 
 Colliery and iron companies. 
 
 Colour manufacturers. 
 merchants. 
 
 Contractors. 
 
 Contractors' plant makers. 
 
 Cooking apparatus makers. 
 
 Cooling -tower makers. 
 
 Cooperage machine makers. 
 
 Coopers. 
 
 Coopers' tools manufacturers. 
 
 Copper merchants. 
 
 Coppersmiths and braziers. 
 
 Cork merchants. 
 
 Corking machine manufacturers. 
 
 Corn merchants (stables depart- 
 ment). 
 
 Corkscrew makers. 
 
 Cotton waste manufacturers. 
 ,, merchants. 
 
 Crane manufacturers. 
 
 Cutlers. 
 
 Dealers in brewers' grains. 
 
 Decorators. 
 
 Disinfecting powder and fluid 
 manufacturers. 
 
 Distemper manufacturers. 
 
 Door-spring makers. 
 
 Drain-pipe (stoneware) manu 
 facturers. 
 
 Draughtsmen. 
 
 Dynamo makers. 
 
 Electric accumulator makers. 
 acidmanu- 
 
 facturers. 
 
 bell manufacturers. 
 cable and wire manu- 
 facturers. 
 carbon makers.
 
 3i6 
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 Electric crane and lift manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 light apparatus makers. 
 ,, dynamo machines. 
 ,, engineers. 
 fittings makers. 
 lamp makers. 
 ., shade makers. 
 
 motor manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Electrical accessories manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 battery makers. 
 measuring instrument 
 
 makers. 
 
 motor brush manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 switch-board makers. 
 Electricians. 
 
 Electricity meter makers. 
 Emery and glass cloth and 
 
 glass paper makers. 
 Emery wheel and machinery 
 
 makers. 
 
 Enamel manufacturers. 
 Enamelled iron, Decorators of. 
 Enamellers (of glass and iron) 
 Encaustic tile makers and mer- 
 chants. 
 
 Endorsing-press manufacturers. 
 Engineers, Brewers'. 
 Consulting. 
 Mechanical. 
 
 Engineers' machine tool makers. 
 
 ,, pattern makers. 
 Fanlight apparatus manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Farriers' tools makers. 
 Feed-water heater makers. 
 Fibrous plaster decorators. 
 
 ,, slab makers. 
 
 File and rasp manufacturers. 
 
 Filter and yeast press dealers. 
 
 ,, pulp makers. 
 Fire-alarm makers. 
 Fire-clay goods manufacturers. 
 Fitters (engineers) and labourers. 
 Flag makers. 
 Flagstaff makers. 
 Flaked maize malt makers. 
 Forage cutters and contractors. 
 Forge bellows makers. 
 
 makers. 
 Founders. 
 French polish manufacturers. 
 
 polishers. 
 
 Galvanized iron and steel manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 tank makers. 
 Galvanizers. 
 Gas engine makers. 
 
 engineers. 
 
 fittings manufacturers. 
 
 globe manufacturers. 
 
 lamp manufacturers. 
 
 lantern makers and fitters. 
 
 light companies. 
 
 ,, meter makers. 
 
 pipe makers. 
 
 regulator manufacturers. 
 
 stove manufacturers. 
 Gasfitters. 
 Glass benders. 
 ,, bevellers. 
 cutters. 
 ,, embossers. 
 
 ,, letter makers. 
 
 ,, manufacturers. 
 
 ,, merchants, window. 
 
 silverers. 
 Glazed brick makers. 
 Glaziers. 
 
 Gold and silver beaters. 
 Grain contractors.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 317 
 
 Grain driers and merchants. 
 Granite merchants and agents. 
 
 polishers. 
 
 Granolithic stone manufacturers. 
 Green fodder merchants (stables 
 
 department). 
 Grill stove makers. 
 Grindstone makers. 
 Hammer makers. 
 Harness makers. 
 Hay merchants. 
 Heating apparatus makers. 
 Hide and skin merchants, 
 
 etc. 
 
 Hop factors. 
 growers. 
 merchants. 
 pocket makers. 
 Horse dealers. 
 
 clipper makers. 
 slaughterers. 
 Hose makers. 
 Hot water apparatus makers. 
 
 engineers. 
 Hotel bar fitters. 
 
 valuers. 
 
 Hydraulic machine makers. 
 Ice machine makers. 
 merchants. 
 
 Incandescent gas lamp manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 lamp makers. 
 
 mantle manufac- 
 
 turers. 
 Indiarubber manufacturers and 
 
 dealers. 
 
 hose manufac- 
 
 turers. 
 ,, machine belting 
 
 manufacturers. 
 steam packing 
 
 manufacturers. 
 
 Insurance companies and 
 
 agents. 
 Ironfounders. 
 
 Ironfounders' pattern makers. 
 Iron and steel manufacturers. 
 
 merchants and 
 
 agents. 
 
 and tin-plate workers. 
 
 casement makers. 
 
 chain makers. 
 
 door and room makers. 
 
 girder and joist makers. 
 
 roof manufacturers. 
 
 shutter manufacturers. 
 
 staircase manufacturers. 
 
 ,, tank manufacturers. 
 Ironmongers (wholesale). 
 Isinglass manufacturers. 
 Japanners. 
 Joiners. 
 
 Labourers (general). 
 Ladder makers. 
 Lamp manufacturers. 
 Land agents. 
 Lath renders. 
 Lathe and tool makers. 
 Lead burners. 
 
 glaziers. 
 
 manufacturers. 
 
 merchants. 
 Leather merchants. 
 Lift makers. 
 Lifting apparatus makers. 
 
 jack makers. 
 Lime merchants. 
 Linoleum manufacturers. 
 Lock makers. 
 
 furniture makers. 
 Locksmiths and bellhangers. 
 Lubricants, manufacturers of. 
 Lubricating oil manufacturers. 
 Lubricator manufacturers.
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 Machine chain makers. 
 ,, strap makers. 
 
 Machinery merchants. 
 
 Machinists. 
 
 Maize, rice, and grits manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Malt factors. 
 kiln floor makers. 
 
 Maltsters. 
 
 Marble merchants. 
 
 Mat makers. 
 
 Mathematical instrument 
 makers. 
 
 Metal merchants. 
 workers. 
 
 Millers (stables department). 
 
 Millwrights. 
 
 Mop makers. 
 and broomstick makers. 
 
 Mortar mill makers. 
 
 Mosaic workers. 
 
 Moss litter companies (stables 
 department). 
 
 Motor-car and carriage makers. 
 
 Nail makers. 
 
 Navvies. 
 
 Oil and colour men. 
 
 Paint manufacturers. 
 
 Painters, glaziers, paperhangers, 
 and house decorators. 
 
 Paper makers and warehouses. 
 
 Paperhanging manufacturers 
 and warehouses. 
 
 Paste merchants. 
 
 Pasteurizing apparatus makers. 
 
 Paviors. 
 
 Pewterers. 
 
 Phospor bronze manufacturers. 
 
 Plasterers. 
 
 Plasterers' labourers. 
 
 hair manufacturers. 
 
 Plate-glass manufacturers. 
 
 Plumbers. 
 
 Plumbers' labourers. 
 
 Power transmission machinery 
 makers. 
 
 Preservative manufacturers. 
 
 Printers and stationers. 
 
 Publicans' bar fitters. 
 brokers. 
 
 Pulley makers. 
 block makers. 
 
 Pump makers Brewers'. 
 
 Pumping machinery manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Racking machine makers. 
 
 Radiator makers. 
 
 Railway companies. 
 
 Refrigerator and refrigerating 
 machinery manufacturers. 
 
 Restaurant furnishers. 
 
 Rivet makers. 
 
 Roofing felt makers. 
 
 Rope, line, and twine manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Saccharum manufacturers. 
 
 Sack makers. 
 
 Safe (fireproof, ice, etc.) makers. 
 
 Sand merchants. 
 
 Sanitary appliances manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Sash line makers. 
 
 Saw makers. 
 mills. 
 
 Scientific instrument makers. 
 
 Scrap iron dealers. 
 
 Screw makers. 
 
 Screwing machine manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Shop fitters and front builders. 
 
 Shive and spile makers. 
 
 Shovel makers. 
 
 spade and fork manufac- 
 turers.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 319 
 
 Show-card and tablet manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Shuttermanufacturers, revolving. 
 Sieve and screen makers. 
 Sign painters. 
 Size manufacturers. 
 Slate enamellers. 
 merchants. 
 quarry owners. 
 tank and cistern makers. 
 Slaters and tilers. 
 Smiths. 
 
 Solder manufacturers. 
 Speaking tube makers and fitters. 
 Spelter manufacturers. 
 Sponge merchants and dealers. 
 
 cloth manufacturers. 
 Stable utensil makers. 
 Stave importers. 
 Steam engine makers. 
 
 and boiler fittings 
 
 manufacturers. 
 
 packing makers. 
 
 trap makers. 
 Steel bar manufacturers. 
 
 founders and casting 
 manufacturers. 
 
 manufacturers. 
 
 pipe manufacturers. 
 
 ,, plate manufacturers. 
 Stone and marble masons. 
 
 jar makers. 
 
 merchants. 
 Stove and range makers. 
 Straw merchants (stables depart- 
 ment). 
 
 Sugar refiners. 
 Surgical instrument makers 
 
 (stables department). 
 Surveying instrument makers. 
 Surveyors. 
 Tap makers. 
 
 Tar paviors. 
 
 Tarpaulin manufacturers. 
 
 Telephone contractors. 
 
 manufacturers. 
 Terra cotta manufacturers. 
 Thermometer makers. 
 Tile (roofing) manufacturers. 
 
 ,, merchants. 
 Tilers (roofing). 
 Timber merchants. 
 Tin and copper wire manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 ,, merchants. 
 
 ,, plate manufacturers. 
 
 ,, merchants. 
 
 ,, workers. 
 Tool makers and dealers. 
 
 ,, handle makers. 
 Tube makers. 
 Turners (in general). 
 Valve makers. 
 Van and truck makers. 
 Varnish makers. 
 Ventilator manufacturers. 
 Veterinary druggists. 
 Vulcanite stopper makers. 
 Waggon builders. 
 Water closet makers. 
 meter makers, etc. 
 pipe makers. 
 Wax manufacturers. 
 Weighing-machine makers. 
 Well borers. 
 
 sinkers. 
 Wheelbarrow makers. 
 Wheelwrights. 
 White lead manufacturers. 
 
 ,, metal manufacturers. 
 Whiting manufacturers. 
 Window blind makers. 
 
 glass merchants and 
 manufacturers.
 
 320 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 Wire nail makers. 
 
 ,, rope makers. 
 Wood block flooring manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 ,, pulley makers. 
 Wood-working machine makers. 
 Writers and gilders on glass. 
 
 Writers and grainers. 
 
 Yarn merchants. 
 
 Yeast dealers. 
 
 Yellow metal manufacturers. 
 
 Zinc merchants. 
 
 ,, roofing manufacturers. 
 
 i, workers and drawers. 
 
 E. THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC 
 BEVERAGES 
 
 (FROM THE LANCET OF MARCH 30, 1907.) 
 
 WE have received the following document for publica- 
 tion in The Lancet. As an expression of scientific 
 opinion it deserves to be considered carefully by medical 
 practitioners. The signatories are well-known mem- 
 bers of the profession, and the importance of the ques- 
 tions involved, alike from the medical and the social 
 point of view, can hardly be overestimated. 
 
 In view of the statements frequently made as to present 
 medical opinion regarding alcohol and alcoholic beverages, we, 
 the undersigned, think it desirable to issue the following short 
 statement on the subject a statement which we believe repre- 
 sents the opinions of the leading clinical teachers as well as of 
 the great majority of medical practitioners. 
 
 Recognizing that, in prescribing alcohol, the requirements of 
 the individual must be the governing rule, we are convinced 
 of the correctness of the opinion, so long and generally held, 
 that in disease alcohol is a rapid and trustworthy restorative. 
 In many cases it may be truly described as life-preserving, 
 owing to its power to sustain cardiac and nervous energy, 
 while protecting the wasting nitrogenous tissues. 
 
 As an article of diet we hold that the universal belief of 
 civilized mankind that the moderate use of alcoholic beverages 
 is, for adults, usually beneficial is amply justified. 
 
 We deplore the evils arising from the abuse of alcoholic
 
 APPENDIX E 321 
 
 beverages. But it is obvious that there is nothing, however 
 beneficial, which does not by excess become injurious. 
 
 T. McCALL ANDERSON, M.D., Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Medicine, University of Glasgow. 
 
 ALFRED G. BARRS. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BENNETT, K.C.V.O., F.R.C.S. 
 
 JAMES CRICHTON-BROWNE. 
 
 W. D. DIXON. 
 
 DYCE DUCKWORTH, M.D., LL.D. 
 
 T. R. GLYNN. 
 
 W. R. COWERS, M.D., F.R.S. 
 
 W. E. HALLIBURTON, M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.P., 
 F.R.S., Professor of Physiology, King's 
 College, London. 
 
 JONATHAN HUTCHISON. 
 
 ROBERT HUTCHINSON. 
 
 EDMUND OWEN, LL.D., F.R.C.S. 
 
 P. H. PYE-SMITH. 
 
 FRED. T. ROBERTS, M.D., B.Sc., F.R.C.P. 
 
 EDGCOMBE YENNING, F.R.C.S. 
 
 F. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES: STATISTICS 
 
 FROM a Parliamentary Return, 'Alcoholic Beverages, 
 1905,' issued while the present work is passing through 
 the press, I take the tables given on pp. 322, 323, 
 showing the annual consumption of alcoholic beverages 
 in the United Kingdom, as compared with various foreign 
 countries, the figures given representing gallons per head 
 of the population. 
 
 It will be observed from these tables that the United 
 Kingdom is the lowest on the list in regard to the con- 
 sumption of wine, is low down on that for spirits, and 
 top but one on that for beer, but that in each instance 
 a decline in consumption especially noteworthy under 
 the head of ' Beer ' is shown ; while for the United 
 
 21
 
 322 
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF WINE PER HEAD 
 OF POPULATION. 
 
 Country. 
 
 1891-95. 
 
 1896-1900. 
 
 1901-05. 
 
 France 
 
 23-0 
 
 28-8 
 
 30-8 
 
 Italy 
 
 20'6 
 
 2O'O 
 
 25-I 
 
 Switzerland 
 
 15-0 
 
 l6'2 
 
 I3'4 
 
 Austria-Hungary 
 
 2-9 
 
 3'2 
 
 3'9 
 
 Germany 
 
 1-19 
 
 1-38 
 
 ''45 
 
 Belgium 
 
 0-85 
 
 0'94 
 
 I'O2 
 
 United States ... 
 
 0*30 
 
 O'32 
 
 o'43 
 
 Holland 
 
 o'43 
 
 O'4O 
 
 0-37 
 
 United Kingdom 
 
 0-37 
 
 0-40 
 
 0-32 
 
 CONSUMPTION OF BEER PER HEAD OF POPULATION. 
 
 Country. 
 
 1901. 
 
 1902. 
 
 1903. 
 
 1904. 
 
 1905. 
 
 Belgium 
 
 48-2 
 
 47'i 
 
 477 
 
 48-2 
 
 48-8 
 
 United Kingdom 
 
 30-8 
 
 3'3 
 
 297 
 
 28-8 
 
 277 
 
 Germany 
 
 27-3 
 
 25*5 
 
 257 
 
 257 
 
 26-3 
 
 Denmark 
 
 2I'I 
 
 20-8 
 
 2O'2 
 
 20-5 
 
 20- 5 
 
 United States .. 
 
 14-6 
 
 15-0 
 
 I5-2 
 
 I5-4 
 
 16-8 
 
 Austria ... 
 
 I 5 -8 
 
 i5'4 
 
 147 
 
 15-2 
 
 I4'3 
 
 Switzerland 
 
 I3-4 
 
 13-6 
 
 I4'3 
 
 I4-3 
 
 * 
 
 Sweden ... 
 
 I3-3 
 
 12-5 
 
 I2'9 
 
 ir6 
 
 * 
 
 France ... 
 
 8-1 
 
 8-1 
 
 77 
 
 8-1 
 
 7'5 
 
 Norway ... 
 
 4'4 
 
 3'9 
 
 3'i 
 
 2'9 
 
 3' 
 
 States the ' home ' of prohibition there is an increase 
 under all three heads. 
 
 The return also shows, with regard to revenue raised 
 from the taxation of alcoholic beverages, that the United 
 States comes first, with a total of 40,259,000, the 
 United Kingdom following with 36,141,000. The 
 former thus pays 4,000,000 in excess of the latter ; but 
 
 Not available.
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 323 
 
 CONSUMPTION OF SPIRITS PER HEAD OF POPULATION. 
 (Gallons of Proof Spirit). 
 
 Country. 
 
 1901. 
 
 1902. 
 
 1903. 
 
 1904: 
 
 1905. 
 
 Denmark 
 
 2 '69 
 
 2-69 
 
 2'50 
 
 2-44 
 
 2'42 
 
 Austria ... 
 
 2'20 
 
 2'2O 
 
 1-98 
 
 1-98 
 
 1-98 
 
 Hungary 
 
 I 7 6 
 
 176 
 
 1-98 
 
 98 
 
 1-98 
 
 Germany 
 
 I-6 3 
 
 1-61 
 
 I'54 
 
 54 
 
 I- 43 
 
 Holland ... 
 
 I- 5 6 
 
 *54 
 
 1-50 
 
 50 
 
 i'43 
 
 Sweden ... 
 
 I-6 5 
 
 1-52 
 
 i'43 
 
 34 
 
 1-36 
 
 France ... 
 
 i '33 
 
 1-24 
 
 i'35 
 
 50 
 
 i'37 
 
 United States . 
 
 ri'j 
 
 I'22 
 
 1-23 
 
 21 
 
 1-26 
 
 Belgium ... 
 
 1-89 
 
 I'6l 
 
 I'OI 
 
 14 
 
 no 
 
 United Kingdom 
 
 1-09 
 
 1-05 
 
 0-99 
 
 0'95 
 
 0-91 
 
 Norway ... 
 
 0^64 
 
 0-64 
 
 O'62 
 
 O'62 
 
 0-51 
 
 Italy 
 
 0-24 
 
 0-24 
 
 0-25 
 
 0-28 
 
 0'29 
 
 against this difference in totals must be put the enormous 
 difference in the size of the two countries. In each 
 case the proportion of revenue from alcoholic beverages 
 to the total revenue raised is 28 per cent. Following 
 the United Kingdom come Russia with 34,473,000 
 (17 per cent, of total) ; France, 17,049,000 (15 per 
 cent.) ; the German Empire, 13,532,000 (percentage 
 uncertain) ; and Austria-Hungary 12,796,000 (n per 
 cent.). 
 
 G. THE TAXATION OF BREWERY 
 COMPANIES 
 
 To illustrate more clearly the taxation already paid by 
 the liquor interests of the country, I have obtained from 
 a leading brewery company the following statement 
 showing the amounts it contributed direct to imperial 
 
 21 2
 
 324 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 and municipal taxation during the year ended March 31, 
 1907: 
 
 IMPERIAL TAXATION : s. d. s. d. 
 
 Beer duty, twelve months ... 212,909 u o 
 
 Less drawbacks 3,io7 18 3 
 
 209,801 12 9 
 
 Income tax : 
 
 Paid by direct assessment : 
 
 Schedule A I >337 o 10 
 
 Schedule D 4,851 18 o 
 
 6,188 18 10 
 Paid by deduction prior to 
 
 receipt of income : 
 Interest on loans ... ,5,489 
 Interest on invest- 
 ments 710 
 
 6,199 o o 
 
 12,387 18 10 
 
 222,189 u 7 
 MUNICIPAL TAXATION 
 
 Borough rates 7,14 10 7 
 
 Total ^229,330 2 2 
 
 NOTE. The sum total of this taxation for revenue and municipal 
 purposes amounts to no less than 24 per cent, of the annual trading 
 receipts (not profits) of the company. Barrels sold for same period, 
 529,982. 
 
 The above statement is exclusive of licence duties and 
 rates and taxes on about 550 public-houses controlled by 
 the company, the total payments under these two heads 
 being estimated to exceed another 120,000. It includes 
 compensation levy paid by publicans, but not that paid 
 by the brewery direct. 
 
 H. PROHIBITION IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 IN a report on ' Liquor Traffic Legislation of the 
 United States,' prepared by Mr. R. C. Lindsay, Second 
 Secretary to His Majesty's Embassy at Washington,
 
 APPENDIX H 325 
 
 and issued by the Foreign Office in April, 1907, it is 
 said: 
 
 The liquor traffic takes up much attention in the Legislatures ; 
 amendments are constantly being passed to existing laws, and new 
 systems introduced generally or locally. During the past three 
 years the States have enacted 164 separate laws directly affecting 
 the liquor traffic. 
 
 On the subject of prohibition Mr. Lindsay observes : 
 
 At one time or another seventeen States have had stringent pro- 
 hibition ; it is now only retained by three, and in those it cannot 
 be looked upon as a success. Parts of prohibitory States have 
 always been in open rebellion against the law ; drinking has never 
 been impossible; the sale of liquor has always been profitable, and 
 seldom disreputable in the eyes of the public. Violation of the law 
 has been open and avowed. Federal law requires the payment of 
 a special annual tax on retail liquor dealers, and most States, 
 including those under prohibition, provide that the payment of this 
 tax shall be prima facie evidence of a sale of liquor having been 
 made, thus utilizing the Federal officials in the detection of illegal 
 traffic. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, the numbers 
 of persons paying the special taxes as retail liquor dealers and 
 retail dealers in malt liquors were, in the State of Kansas, 4,019 ; 
 in Maine, 599 ; and in North Dakota, 1,582 these being the three 
 prohibition States. 
 
 In urban districts, at any rate, it has not been possible to find 
 any sound ethical basis for the law, or to persuade the majority to 
 regard its violation as immoral. Without the backing of public 
 opinion, no enforcement of prohibition has been obtained except at 
 the price of raising animosities between rival factions of such 
 intensity as seriously to disturb the community. Juries have 
 violated their oaths ; judges have hesitated to impose statutory 
 penalties ; blackmail and corruption have been directly instigated, 
 and the law in general brought into contempt. Persistent dis- 
 regard of the liquor laws is supposed to encourage disobedience to 
 other enactments, and an example is cited in Kansas, where the 
 fact that an anti-gambling law is almost a dead-letter has been 
 attributed to the lax enforcement of prohibition in the cities of the 
 State. 
 
 It should also be mentioned that prohibition prevents a com- 
 munity from passing any laws for reclaiming or protecting its 
 drunkards. Where in theory there is no drinking, in theory there 
 can be no intoxication ; but from the practical point of view such 
 arguments cannot be justified.
 
 INDEX 
 
 AFRICA, DRINK IN, 9 
 
 AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS, 276-7 
 
 ALCOHOL : Food value of, 25 ; 
 found in fresh bread, 29 ; alcohol ! 
 and national progress, 30 ; ) 
 alcohol in drugs and patent \ 
 medicines, 33-38 ; views of i 
 medical experts, 69-78 ; per- 
 centage in beer and spirits, 181 ; 
 teaching in schools respecting, 
 201-8 ; in temperance drinks, 
 224-5 ; amount of, in beer, 229- 
 230 ; purpose served by, 238 
 
 ALE-CONNERS, 16 
 
 ALE : Early, 10 ; use of hops 
 in, ii ; difference between ale j 
 and beer, 11-12 ; the national 
 beverage, 12-13 ; old laws and 
 regulations, 14-19 
 
 ALLIED BREWERY TRADERS' AS- 
 SOCIATION, 278 
 
 ALLIED TRADES, 276-9 
 
 ALRECK, KING OF HORDOLAND, 
 
 13 
 
 ARSENIC, 288 
 
 ASSIZE OF BREAD AND ALE, 15 
 ATKINSON, RICHARD, 13 
 AUGSBURG, COMMON COUNCIL OF, 
 15 
 
 BALFOUR, MR., 248 
 
 BAUER, DR. P., 288 
 
 BAVARIA, EARLY LAWS IN, n 
 
 BEER ACT (1830), 86-7 
 
 ' BEER-HEART ' IN GERMANY, 287 
 
 BEER-HOUSES : Origin of, 87 ; 
 laws concerning, 88 ; law of 
 1869, 88-9 reduction in number 
 of, 244-251 
 
 BEER : Primitive, 7-9 ; introduc- 
 tion of hops, ii ; ' liquid bread,' 
 25 ; sale of beer through ' tied ' 
 houses, 104 ; ditto ' managed ' 
 
 houses, 117-120; beer in Nor- 
 way, 180-1 ; advance in science 
 of brewing, 227-232 ; lager beer, 
 232-4 ; lighter qualities, 229- 
 230 ; use of ' substitutes,' 236-7 
 beer in Denmark, 239-240 
 beer a temperance drink, 241 
 production of, 274-5 
 
 BENNETT, M. P., MR. E. N., 135 
 
 BIRMINGHAM WHOLESALE 
 BREWERS' ASSOCIATION, 108 
 
 BRAMWELL, LORD, 245 
 
 BRANDT, MR. M. VON, 133 
 
 BRANTHWAITE, MR. R. WELSH, 
 55-68 
 
 BRAZIL, DRINK IN, 9 
 
 BREAD, ALCOHOL IN, 29 
 
 BREWERS : Advances by, 93-4 ; 
 succeed individual owners, 95-7 ; 
 arrangements with tenants, 97- 
 102 ; ' managed ' houses con- 
 trolled by, 106-128 ; beer-supply 
 to own houses, 117-120; how 
 affected by time-limit, 262-3 ; 
 dividends, 269-270 
 
 BREWERS' COMPANY OF LONDON, 
 ii, 17, 82 
 
 BREWHOUSES, DOMESTIC, 13 
 
 BREWING : Early, in Egypt, 7 ; 
 in England, 10-11, 13-18 ; scien. 
 tific progress in, 227-232 ; com- 
 modities used in, 235-8 ; in 
 Denmark, 239-240; persons 
 employed in, 274-5 
 
 BREWSTERS, 14 
 
 BRINTON, DR., 74 
 
 BROWN, MR. HORACE, 227 
 
 BRUNTON, SIR LAUDER, 32, 75 
 
 BUXTON, MR. E. N., 263 
 
 CAINE, MR., 246 
 
 CAPITAL INVESTED IN LIQUOR 
 INDUSTRIES, 268-9 
 
 326
 
 INDEX 
 
 327 
 
 CARTER, DR. R. BRUNDENELL, 
 
 75 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN, MR. ARTHUR, 187 
 
 CHESTER, MIRACLE PLAY AT, 14 
 
 CHLORAL, 33, 34 
 
 CIDER, 6 
 
 CLUBS: Statistics concerning, 189- 
 191 ; membership, 191 ; Sunday 
 entertainments, 192-3 ; drinking 
 at, 193-4 ; reasons for resort to, 
 195-8; the club problem, 292-300 
 
 COBBETT, WILLIAM, 13 
 
 COCAINE, 27, 288 
 
 COCA PLANT, 9 
 
 COFFEE : Introduction of, 12 ; 
 use of, as stimulant, 27, 28, 29 ; 
 excessive consumption of, 211 
 
 COLA-NUT, 9 
 
 COMMITTEE OF FIFTY, 202-7, 2 9 
 
 COMPENSATION, 247, 250-4 
 
 CONFISCATION, 265 
 
 CRICHTON-BROWNE, SIR JAMES, 
 
 75 
 CRIME AND DRINK, 40-7, 289 
 
 DAVIES, MR. FREDERICK, 220 
 DEAN OF HEREFORD, THE, 299 
 DEANE, MR. JUSTICE BARGRAVE, 
 
 153 
 
 DEBENTURE-HOLDERS' INTERESTS, 
 
 262-3 
 
 DE FOE, 23 
 DENMARK, TEMPERANCE BEERS 
 
 IN, 239 
 
 DEWAR, SIR THOMAS R., 132 
 DISINTERESTED MANAGEMENT, 
 
 170-188, 257-8, 300 
 DISTILLING, 20, 82 
 DOGBERRY WINE, 7 
 ' DRINK BILL, THE,' 280-3 
 DRUNKARDS, HABITUAL, 54-68 
 DRUNKENNESS : Prohibitionists 
 and, 39-53 ; habitual, 54-68 ; in 
 Scotland, 143-7 Belfast, 147-8 ; 
 Wales, 149 ; New Zealand, 
 163-5 1 Norway, 178-180 ; en- 
 couraged by clubs, 193-5, 34 
 DUBELLE. MR. G. H., 221 
 DUCKWORTH, SIR DYCE, 75 
 DUTTON, DR. THOMAS, 76 
 
 EGYPT, BREWING IN, 7 
 EMBROCATIONS, 31 
 EWALD, PROF. DR., 71 
 
 FALKENHEIM, PROF. DR., 73 
 FARQUHARSON, DR. ROBERT, 22 
 FIELDING, 85 
 FOOD-SUPPLY IN PUBLIC-HOUSES, 
 
 121-4 
 FOOD VALUE, 25, 75, 222-3, 23 - 1 ! 
 
 238, 283 
 
 FORBES-MACKENZIE ACT, 88, 142 
 Fox, SIR WILLIAM, 154 
 
 GAMBLE, THE REV. H. R., 292 
 GARROD, DR. ALFRED B., 75 
 GIN, 21, 83-6 
 GLADSTONE, MR., 229, 290 
 
 GOLDSCHEIDEN, PROF. DR. A., "Jl 
 
 GOSCHEN, MR., 272 
 GOTHENBURG SYSTEM, THE, 171- 
 
 2, 184 
 
 GRANT, PRINCIPAL, 140 
 GRIESS, MR. PETER, 227 
 GRINNELL, DR. ASHBEL P., 27, 
 
 33-6 
 
 GROCERS' LICENCES, 88 
 GRUTZNER, PROF. Dr. VON, 73 
 
 GUARANA, 9 
 
 GULL, SIR WILLIAM, 74 
 
 HANSEN, MR. EMILE C., 228 
 HARCOURT, SIR WILLIAM, 246 
 HAUSER, PROF. DR., 73 
 HIGH LICENCE, 272, 290, 296 
 HOLIDAY CLOSING : In Scotland, 
 
 145-7 I m Belfast, 147-8 
 HOPS: Introduction of, 10-11 ; 
 
 use of, 228-9 : bP industry, 
 
 277 
 
 HOP SUBSTITUTES, 237 
 HORSLEY, SIR VICTOR, 201, 208 
 HUNT, MRS. MARY H., 202-3 
 
 ILLICIT TRADING, 83, 132, 138, 
 
 140, 148, 163 
 INDUSTRIAL CONSIDERATIONS, 
 
 274-9 
 INSANITY AND ALCOHOL, 47-9, 56- 
 
 7,65 
 
 INVESTORS IN BREWERY COM- 
 PANIES, 265, 273 
 
 JACOBSEN, MR., 228 
 JAPAN, NATIONAL BEVERAGE OF, 
 9-10 
 
 KAVA, 9 
 
 KIRKBY, MR. WILLIAM, 212
 
 328 
 
 THE LICENSED TRADE 
 
 LADDEVIN, 178 
 
 LAGER BEER, 232-4 
 
 ' LANCET ' MANIFESTO, 78 
 
 LEASE-HOLDER, POSITION OF, 264 
 
 LECKY, MR., 86 
 
 LEGISLATION: Early, n, 15, 16; 
 
 story of past legislation, 80-90 ; 
 
 Sharp v. Wakefield, 244 ; Veto 
 
 Bills, 246; Act of 1902, 246; 
 
 Act of 1904, 250-1, 254 
 LOCAL OPTION, 150-2, 177, 246, 
 
 254 
 
 LOMBROSO, PROF. CESARB, 44 
 LONDON, CITY OF, AND BREWING, 
 
 ii, 16-18 
 ' LORD OF THE TAP,' 19 
 
 MACDONNELL, SIR JOHN, 45-6 
 
 MACEWAN, MR. PETER, 219 
 
 MAGEE, DR., 292 
 
 MAGISTRATES AND THE LICENSED 
 TRADE, 102-4, i"-2, 124, 127, 
 253, 294, 297 
 
 ' MANAGED ' HOUSES : A phase of 
 ordinary commercial condi- 
 tions, 106 ; how system operates, 
 107-111 ; position of managers, 
 112-7; beer supply, 117-120; 
 food supply, 120-124 ; mana- 
 gerial compared with tenancy 
 system, 124-8 
 
 MARKS, M.P., Mr. H. H., 199 
 
 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 12 
 
 McKEAGUE, MR. JOHN, 165 
 
 MEAD, 6 
 
 METHYLATED SPIRITS, 180 
 
 MEXICO, DRINK IN, 9 
 
 MIRACLE PLAY AT CHESTER, 14 
 
 MONOPOLY VALUE, 254-267, 295 
 
 MORPHIA, 32, 34, 288 
 
 MORTILLET, M. G. DE, 6 
 
 NARCOTICS, 32 
 
 NEWBEGIN, THE REV. E. H., 133 
 
 NEW ZEALAND, No - LICENCE 
 
 MOVEMENT IN, 154-169 
 NORWAY.- Drinking habits in, 170- 
 
 i ; Norwegian system, 171-3 ; 
 
 Samlag profits, 173-5 ; liquor 
 
 comsumption in, 176 
 
 OLDFIELD, DR. JOSIAH, 76 
 OPIUM, 10, 27, 32, 34 
 
 O'SULLIVAN, Mr CORNELIUS, 227, 
 235 
 
 PAGET, SIR JAMES, 74 
 
 PASTEUR, 227 
 
 PATENT MEDICINES, 35-8 
 
 PEACOCK, MR. ROBERT, 194 
 
 PERU, DRINK IN, 9 
 
 PICKLES AS STIMULANTS, 27 
 
 POLICE AND THE TRADE, 107, no, 
 115, 162-3, J 97-8 
 
 POLITUR, 31, 180 
 
 POVERTY AND DRINK, 49-51, 289 
 
 PRESERVATIVES, USE OF, 217, 224, 
 238 
 
 PROHIBITION : In the United 
 States of America, 33-6, 130-7 ; 
 in Canada, 137-140 ; in Austra- 
 lia, 140-1 ; judicial views of, 
 153 ; in New Zealand, 154-169 
 
 PROHIBITIONISTS, EXAGGERATIONS 
 OF, 39-53 
 
 PUBLIC-HOUSES: 'Tied,' 91-105; 
 ' managed,' 106-128 ; reduction 
 in number of, 244-251, 293-5; 
 continuity of licences for, 253-4 ; 
 how affected by time limit, 255-7, 
 295 ; persons employed, 275 ; 
 public-houses and population, 
 295 ; social purposes served by, 
 299-300 
 
 PULQUE, 9 
 
 PURE BEER AGITATION, 236-7 
 
 PURE FOOD ACT (U.S.A.), 37 
 
 QUAIN, DR. RICHARD, 74 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH, 12 
 QUININE, 27 
 
 RALEIGH, SIR WALTER, 12 
 
 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF LI- 
 CENSED HOUSES, 243-251, 293-5 
 
 REED, DR. A. J., 36 
 
 REID, Mr. G. A. A., 76-7 
 
 RIBBERT, PROF. DR., 72 
 
 ROBERTSON, DR., 141 
 
 ROBERTSON, THE REV. J. CART- 
 MEL, 41 
 
 ROSEBERY, LORD, 301 
 
 SAKE, 9 
 
 SALISBURY, LORD, 256 
 
 SALTET, PROF. H. R., 72 .
 
 INDEX 
 
 329 
 
 SCHMIDT, HERR CARL E., 30 
 
 SCHMIDT, PROF. DR. 73 
 
 SCHOTTELIUS, DR. MAX, 29, 286 
 
 SCOTLAND : Sunday closing in, 
 88, 142 ; early closing in, 143-5 ; 
 holiday closing in, 145-7 
 
 SCOTT ACT, THE, 137-8 
 
 SCOTTISH COMMISSIONERS' RE- 
 PORT ON NORWAY, 173-182 
 
 SCOTTISH LAWS, OLD, 16 
 
 SELBORNE, LORD, 247 
 
 SHADWELL, DR., 84 
 
 SHARP v. WAKEFIELD, 244 
 
 SHROTTER, PROF., 73 
 
 SINKING FOND THEORY, 262-3 
 
 SMITH, ADAM, 284 
 
 SMITH, PROF. GOLDWIN, 137 
 
 SPIRITS : Introduction of, 20 ; 
 compared with beer, 40 ; gave 
 rise to the ' liquor question,' 40 ; 
 increased consumption, 82-6 ; 
 spirits v. beer, 132, 138, 161 ; 
 spirit drinking in Norway, 170-1. 
 1 80 
 
 STIMULANTS : Purposes served by, 
 25 ; response of, to natural 
 instinct, 26-31, 38, 288 ; varieties 
 of, 27-29 ; medical views on, 
 69-78 
 
 STORCH, DR. E., 73 
 
 SUBSTITUTES FOR ALCOHOLIC 
 BEVERAGES : Methylated spirits, 
 
 31 ; politur, 31 ; dental washes, 
 31; embrocations, 31; ether, 
 
 32 ; drugs, 33-37 ; general, 288 
 SUBSTITUTES, USE OF, IN BEER, 
 
 235-7 
 
 SUNDAY CLOSING, 88, 142, 148-9, 
 254, 262. 290, 299 
 
 TAVERNS, IN THE PAST, 22-4 
 TAXATION, 189, 260, 270-2, 280 
 TEA : Introduction of, 12 ; use of 
 
 as stimulant, 27, 29 ; excessive 
 
 consumption, 210-11 
 TEA-ROOMS IN PUBLIC-HOUSES, 
 
 121 
 
 TEETOTALLERS, ATTITUDE OF, 
 
 TOWARDS THE LICENSED TRADE, 
 
 3, 24, 39-40, 91, 129, 155, 243, 
 
 289 
 TEMPERANCE DRINKS, 29, 209-226, 
 
 241, 282 
 TEMPERANCE LEGISLATION 
 
 LEAGUE, 254, 257-260, 262, 
 
 266 
 TEMPERANCE PARTY, POLICY OF, 
 
 40, 129-130, 142, 153, 170, 182-8, 
 
 189, 201, 243, 252, 254-266,287- 
 
 8, 294 
 TEMPERANCE TEACHING IN 
 
 SCHOOLS, 201-8 
 TENANTS, POSITION OF, 92, 105, 
 
 124-6 
 1 TIED ' HOUSES : Origin of, 93 ; 
 
 how system operates, 94-105 ; 
 
 advantages for tenant, 95 ; 
 
 reasons for transfer, 95-7 ; 
 
 quality of beer supplied, 117- 
 
 120; general effect of tied house 
 
 system, 298 
 
 TIME LIMIT, 254-266, 295 
 TRANSFERS OF LICENCES, 112 
 ' TRUST ' PUBLIC-HOUSES, 185-7 
 TUCZEK, PROF., 72 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM ALLIANCE, 289 
 UNITED STATES : Use of drugs 
 in, 27, 33-8 ; prohibition in, 33, 
 130-7 ; temperance teaching in 
 schools ; 201-7 ! temperance 
 party in, 290-1 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 18 
 
 VAUGHAN, FATHER BERNARD, 51 
 
 WHITTAKER, SIR THOMAS, 136 
 WINE, 7, 20 
 
 WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPER- 
 ANCE UNION, 202 
 
 YERKES, MR. JOHN W., 37 
 ZUNKER, DR. ERNEST, 70 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
 
 Large Crown 8vo. Half a Crown net. 
 
 LICENSING AND TEMPERANCE 
 
 IN 
 
 SWEDEN, NORWAY, AND DENMARK. 
 
 By EDWIN A. PRATT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 ' THE TRANSITION IN AGRICULTURE,' ' RAILWAYS AND THEIR KATES," ETC. 
 
 CONTENTS. The Gothenburg System : Early Days 
 Gothenburg City : Bars, Bottles, and Drunkenness Private 
 Profits and Public Gain The Position in Norway Drunk- 
 enness and Beer-drinking Temperance v. Teetotalism 
 The Copenhagen System Conclusions and Recommenda- 
 tions Appendix : Abuses of the Company System Drunken- 
 ness Declines : Immorality Increases ' Fruits of Fanaticism ' 
 in Norway The Company System in Finland Index. 
 
 LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 
 
 1906. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Newcastle Chronicle. ' Many books have been written about the 
 Gothenburg System, but Mr. Pratt's volume is welcome because it 
 contains a recent and careful review of results, while its chief value lies 
 in the information it conveys with regard to the Copenhagen system, 
 about which the British public knows but little.' 
 
 The Field. ' The book is a grave, unbiased, and, to our thinking, 
 an unanswerable statement.'
 
 Record. ' In view of the probable legislative efforts of the present 
 Government, there should be a large demand for the book. 1 
 
 Yorkshire Daily Post. ' It is worth considering, even at this late 
 hour of the day, whether the so-called temperance party could not, by 
 a change of policy, attract a larger measure of public support and 
 sympathy by doing something themselves than by expecting successive 
 Governments to " do something ' ' for them, and by seeking to co- 
 operate with the licensed trade rather than to rob and ruin it. The 
 proposal is not so outrageous as it may seem. In support of it some 
 interesting evidence has been collected by Mr. Edwin A. Pratt, and 
 published by Mr. John Murray, which all temperance workers owe it 
 to themselves and their cause to study as far as possible without 
 prejudice. ' 
 
 Aberdeen Journal. ' A contribution of considerable importance to 
 the controversy about the precise value of the Gothenburg System as 
 a remedial agency in lessening drunkenness and the consumption of 
 alcoholic liquor.' 
 
 Birmingham Post. ' With all these facts before us it can scarcely be 
 said that the Gothenburg System has been in any sense a success. . . . 
 It will be very difficult for the advocates of the adoption of a similar 
 system in this country (if any are to be found at this late date) to offer 
 any reply to Mr. Pratt's arguments.' 
 
 Sheffield Daily Telegraph. ' The whole book will be found eminently 
 readable and informative, even by those who do not accept the author's 
 conclusions.' 
 
 Monitor. ' Certainly a valuable and practical contribution on the 
 subject.' 
 
 Catholic Times. ' It is difficult to understand how the Gothenburg 
 System has come to be considered and to be praised to so great an 
 extent. Certainly there would be nothing gained by handing over a 
 monopoly of part of the drink business to a huge company, with 5 per 
 cent, assured to the shareholders, and with city councils, county 
 councils, and the Imperial Exchequer scrambling for the profits. Two 
 thoughts emerge into prominence from a consideration of this useful 
 and ably written book one, the justice of Mr. Pratt's contention " that 
 the sobriety of a nation is much more likely to be promoted by en- 
 couraging the consumption of light and harmless beverages, of a kind 
 acceptable to the people at large, than by merely seeking to enforce 
 oppressive and coercive measures on either consumers or suppliers "; 
 and the other, not expressed in the pages of Mr. Pratt's little treatise, 
 is yet implied on almost every page, that the cause of sobriety can be 
 served better by religious and moral ideals acting upon individuals than 
 by legislation not reflecting the real wishes of the people.'
 
 Alliance News. ' Mr. Pratt's book appears at a singularly opportune 
 time, for, though it is written with a most obvious prejudice against 
 teetotalism and prohibition, and contains opinions and theories which 
 no instructed temperance reformer can accept for one moment, it is a 
 veritable storehouse of facts the latest and best authenticated facts 
 establishing the utter failure of those principles and theories upon 
 which the ' ' Disinterested Management ' ' party have grounded their 
 whole case. 1 
 
 Churchman. 'A readable account of the Gothenburg System and 
 the present conditions of the drink problem in Scandinavia.' 
 
 Eastern Morning News. 'There are enthusiasts on both sides, and 
 each can study the book with satisfaction.' 
 
 Church Times. ' Not only does Mr. Pratt smash into atoms certain 
 ideas which had become almost nationalized in England, but in 
 dealing with the Norwegian " Samlag " he arrives at a conclusion 
 amazingly different from that which has been given to the world this 
 week by the Special Committee employed by the Scottish Temperance 
 Legislation Board. . . . Who shall decide ? The Committee praise 
 the " Samlag " and condemn the " Bolag." Mr. Pratt condemns both, 
 and in no measured terms, quoting an array of precise statements of 
 fact. But we are coming nearer the light when we read Mr. Pratt's 
 discussion of the system in force in Copenhagen. This system sets 
 out to encourage the consumption of lighter beers, and at the same 
 time provides a type of public-house which seems to recognize the 
 human need of social intercourse. Mr. Pratt describes them fully. 
 . . . Private enterprise, using public opinion as its weapon, seems to 
 be accomplishing in Denmark what "disinterested management" 
 fails to accomplish in Norway and Sweden alike. It is significant that 
 in Denmark " the temperance party has no political programme. 
 It does not worry the national Parliament for all sorts of coercive 
 measures, but quietly sets about doing all it can to promote sobriety 
 on the broadest and most common-sense lines." We leave the state- 
 ment without comment. It is food for leisurely reflection.' 
 
 The Northern Whig.' A good deal, certainly, was written on the 
 Gothenburg System ten or fifteen years ago, but it is interesting to 
 hear how it is going on, and Mr. Pratt has something of his own to say 
 about it. He did not, like too many of his predecessors, form his 
 opinion on an inquiry lasting a few hours, or a visit of a couple of days. 
 In Norway, in Sweden, and in Denmark, he not only inquired from the 
 authorities, but he visited the artisan and slum districts. The result 
 is a work of great importance on a profoundly important sociological 
 problem, which at present bulks largely in the outlook of our own 
 country. 1
 
 Month. 'The author . . . begins with a very clear exposition of 
 the nature of the system. Its root-principle is to confine to a certain 
 authorized body the sale of the native spirit known as " branvin " in 
 Norway and " brsendevin " in Sweden the abnormal consumption of 
 which, the result of unwise legislation, had become a national calamity. 
 The remedy devised was to make the sale of this liquor a monopoly, 
 consigned to a " disinterested management " company, the philanthropic 
 shareholders in which should consent to forego more than 5 per cent, 
 on their invested money, any surplus being assigned to the State for 
 national purposes, it being assumed that the origin of evil is the greed of 
 private enterprise, each manufacturer or vendor being anxious only for 
 his own profits, and that all would be well if the trade were left in the 
 hands of the State, "in whose wisdom and absolute disinterestedness 
 confidence can alone be placed." Mr. Pratt's investigations have 
 convinced him that such an assumption is not borne out by facts. Not 
 only is it that the demon of private avarice is by no means exorcised, 
 but officials can be no less eager to secure revenue by extending the 
 sale of spirits than are individuals to replenish their own pockets. 
 There is, therefore, nothing in the system to check the spread of 
 intemperance, and, as a matter of fact, he finds it is not checked. . . . 
 Rightly to estimate the value of Mr. Pratt's conclusions, his book 
 must be carefully studied, and it may be cordially recommended to 
 all who are interested as who is not ? in the vital question with 
 which it deals.' 
 
 Daily News. ' A bright and interesting treatise.' 
 
 Sheffield Independent. ' The author . . . has come to the conclusion 
 that systems like the Gothenburg Bolag are a mistake, and do not 
 lessen the aggregate purchase of drink, but drive it, rather, into secrecy 
 in the home. . . . What he does bring out clearly, amid much that is 
 one-sided, is the vastness of the drink sale, in quiet ways, in countries 
 which are trying plans for producing sobriety, while strong liquors are 
 easily though not ostentatiously procurable." 
 
 Brewing Trade Review. ' There can be no doubt that Mr. Pratt 's 
 investigations on this question are the most complete that have yet 
 been published.' 
 
 Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. ' The book holds a moral. You 
 cannot make people good or sober or wise by mistrusting them.'
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
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